Prof. Sivakumar Appointed As New Law Commission Member

S. Sivakumar, professor at Indian Law Institute (ILI), has been appointed as full-time member of the 21st Law Commission of India.

The professor confirmed this via an e-mail. Earlier Indian Express had reported that Rajkot-based lawyer Abhay Bhardwaj, who had represented the accused in the 2002 Gulbarg Society Massacre case, had been selected as part-time member of the 21st Law Commission of India.

In March 2016, former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan was appointed as the new Chairman of Law Commission of India.

Former Gujarat High Court judge Justice Ravi R Tripathi was also appointed as a member of the Commission.

In June, 2016 Dr. Bimal Patel, Director, Gujarat National Law University was appointed as a part-time member of the 21st Law Commission of India

The 21st Law Commission was constituted for a period of three years from 1 September, 2015. The commission will have its tenure only till 31 August 2018.But the present Law Commission has surprisingly not submitted any report till date

The Law commissions since 1955, have submitted 262 reports so far to the government, on various subjects. The last report, submitted on 31 August 2015, by previous chairperson Justice AP Shah, had recommended immediate abolition of death penalty for all purposes, except terrorism-related cases.

The terms of the 21st Law Commission are of considerable significance, and it is inexplicable how the government delays appointment to the Law Commission, even while it, in other forums, is eloquent about their importance to governance.