Allahabad High Court Directs UP Govt To Regularly Update State Enactments, Amendments On Official Websites

The Allahabad High Court last week called upon the Uttar Pradesh Government to regularly update the text of the state laws, along with the amendments, if made, on its official websites.

The bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agrawal, while hearing a suo moto matter [In Re - Regular Publication of All The Enactments of The State Legislature, as well as Rules, framed] actually visited two different websites, i.e., "Indiacode.nic.in" and "upvidhai.gov.in" and found that state enactments had not been updated on the website.

This was so despite the claim made by Additional Advocate General that all the state laws have been updated on both websites.

Essentially, when the Court visited both the websites, it found that the Acts, which are applicable on a particular date, showing as to the dates on which various amendments were carried out in that Act were not available.

"It is only that the Acts, which were enacted initially and various amended Acts with reference to that have been uploaded on the website. With this, it may be difficult for anyone to find out as to which of the Act is enforced as on date," the court observed as it asked the UP Government to make sure that the websites are regularly updated as and when any amendments are made to the state laws.

The Court also discussed the issue of wrong publication of laws by private publishers with the additional advocate general and remarked that due to the improper publication of laws, amendments by private publishers, the people associated with the judicial system have to suffer.

Against this backdrop, the Court stressed upon building a mechanism wherein on a single click, the information regarding the latest laws, along with the amendments, if made, gets available to the general public.

"Many times, the amendment is made in the Act, but the provisions for enforcement are not notified. The same also has to be specifically taken care of," the Court directed the UP Govt as it adjourned the matter to January 10, 2022 for further hearing.

Case title - In Re - Regular Publication of All The Enactments of The State Legislature, as well as Rules, framed

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