In the evolving landscape of Indian jurisprudence and economic policy, the bridge between the letter of the law and its practical accessibility has often been fraught with systemic bottlenecks. For decades, the Indian legal and regulatory framework has been characterized by what many experts call ‘regulatory cholesterol’\u2014a thick layer of complex, often overlapping, and sometimes contradictory rules that stifle innovation and entrepreneurship. Recently, Sanjeev Sanyal, a distinguished member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), proposed a landmark legislative intervention: the “Transparency of Rules Act” (TORA). As a Senior Advocate, I view this proposal not merely as an administrative shift, but as a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between the State and its citizens.<\/p>\n
The proposal for TORA emerges from a critical realization within the highest echelons of the Indian government: that the sheer volume of regulations is secondary to the problem of their opacity. Sanjeev Sanyal has long advocated for a ‘process of simplification’ that moves beyond just repealing old laws to actively organizing the ones that remain. The proposed Act suggests that every department, whether at the Central or State level, must place all citizen-facing rules, regulations, and forms on a single, centralized digital portal. Most importantly, the Act proposes a revolutionary legal principle: if a rule is not published on this portal, it simply does not exist in the eyes of the law.<\/p>\n
This “transparency-first” approach is designed to eliminate the “Inspector Raj” legacy where officials could produce obscure circulars or notifications at their whim to penalize businesses or citizens. By mandating a digital repository that serves as the “single source of truth,” TORA aims to democratize legal knowledge and ensure that the State cannot enforce what it has not clearly communicated.<\/p>\n
For any practitioner in the High Courts or the Supreme Court, the complexity of India\u2019s regulatory environment is a daily reality. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable. A typical enterprise in India may be subject to hundreds of compliance requirements across various domains\u2014labor laws, environmental norms, municipal permits, and tax filings. The problem is compounded by the fact that these rules are often hidden within sub-clauses of notifications issued by local authorities or specific departments that are not easily searchable.<\/p>\n
Sanjeev Sanyal\u2019s proposal identifies this as ‘regulatory cholesterol’ because it clogs the arteries of commerce. When a business owner spends more time navigating the labyrinth of government notifications than focusing on product development or service delivery, the national economy suffers. TORA seeks to dissolve this cholesterol by ensuring that every regulation is indexed, searchable, and time-stamped on a public platform.<\/p>\n
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the Indian economy, yet they bear a disproportionate burden of compliance costs. Unlike large corporations, they lack the legal departments necessary to track every change in regulatory norms. TORA would act as a massive equalizer. By having a centralized portal, an entrepreneur in a tier-2 city would have the same access to regulatory updates as a multinational firm in a metropolitan hub. This level playing field is essential for achieving the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.<\/p>\n
In legal theory, there is a long-standing maxim: Ignorantia juris non excusat<\/i> (ignorance of the law is no excuse). Traditionally, the State assumes that once a law or notification is published in the Official Gazette, the citizen is deemed to have knowledge of it. However, in the 21st century, the Gazette is an antiquated method of communication. The Transparency of Rules Act effectively challenges this traditional dynamic by shifting the burden of communication onto the State.<\/p>\n
Under TORA, the State\u2019s power to enforce a rule becomes contingent upon its successful digital publication in a prescribed, accessible format. This is a significant shift in administrative law. It transforms the “right to know” from a passive constitutional ideal into an active, enforceable statutory requirement. From a litigation perspective, this would provide a robust defense for citizens who are penalized based on obscure or “hidden” circulars that have not been uploaded to the central portal.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s climb in the World Bank\u2019s Ease of Doing Business rankings over the last decade has been commendable, but the “ground-level” experience of doing business often differs from the “on-paper” metrics. Domestic and foreign investors seek predictability and certainty. They need to know that the rules of the game will not change overnight through an unannounced departmental memo.<\/p>\n
The enactment of TORA would signal to the global community that India is committed to a “trust-based governance” model. When rules are transparent, the scope for corruption and harassment decreases. If an official cannot point to a rule on the centralized portal, they cannot exercise discretionary power to stall a project or levy a fine. This reduction in discretionary power is perhaps the most significant benefit of the Act, as it replaces the “discretion of the officer” with the “certainty of the portal.”<\/p>\n
One of the most complex aspects of Indian law is the overlap between Central and State jurisdictions. A business often operates under both. Sanjeev Sanyal\u2019s proposal envisions a framework where even State governments adopt the TORA principles. Imagine a centralized portal where a user can filter rules by state, sector, and department. This would drastically reduce the “legal search costs” for businesses operating across multiple states, further integrating the Indian internal market.<\/p>\n
The Indian judiciary is famously overburdened with millions of pending cases. A substantial portion of writ petitions and commercial disputes arises from the misinterpretation of obscure rules or challenges to the validity of retrospective notifications. By mandating clarity and transparency at the source, TORA could potentially prevent thousands of disputes from ever reaching the courtroom.<\/p>\n
Legal disputes often hinge on the interpretation of vague language in departmental circulars. If TORA requires rules to be uploaded in a standardized format, it encourages departments to draft their regulations more clearly. Furthermore, the portal could provide a history of changes, allowing lawyers and judges to track exactly which version of a rule was in effect at any given point in time, eliminating the “evidentiary nightmare” of proving the status of a regulation from years prior.<\/p>\n
While the proposal for the Transparency of Rules Act is visionary, its implementation will require significant bureaucratic will and technological infrastructure. The transition from a “paper-first” or “scattered-digital” approach to a “centralized-digital-only” approach is a massive undertaking.<\/p>\n
The success of TORA depends on the robustness of the centralized portal. It must be resilient, user-friendly, and capable of handling massive traffic. However, we must also consider the digital divide. While the Act targets “transparency,” the State must ensure that those without high-speed internet access still have a mechanism to access these rules, perhaps through Common Service Centers (CSCs) or local administrative offices.<\/p>\n
Historically, bureaucracies derive power from the control of information. Shifting to a system where “if it\u2019s not online, it\u2019s not a rule” strips away a layer of that power. There may be internal resistance to such a high degree of accountability. Therefore, TORA must have strong “teeth”\u2014penal provisions or administrative consequences for departments that fail to keep their regulatory data updated on the portal.<\/p>\n
Many developed economies have similar transparency requirements, but few have a single “master act” that invalidates unpublished rules across all sectors. For example, the United States has the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs how agencies propose and establish regulations, including requirements for public notice and comment. However, Sanyal\u2019s proposal for TORA goes a step further by emphasizing the “portal-centric” enforceability of the law.<\/p>\n
If India successfully implements TORA, it could become a global gold standard for regulatory transparency in the digital age. It would demonstrate that a large, complex democracy can leverage technology to simplify its legal ecosystem without compromising on the rigor of its laws.<\/p>\n
The proposal by Sanjeev Sanyal for a “Transparency of Rules Act” is more than just an economic reform; it is a profound legal reform that honors the spirit of the Indian Constitution. By making the law accessible, understandable, and certain, the State fulfills its duty to govern with the consent and knowledge of the governed. As a Senior Advocate, I believe that the enactment of TORA would be a watershed moment for the Indian legal system. It would replace the shadows of bureaucracy with the light of digital transparency, ensuring that “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” is not just a slogan, but a lived reality for every citizen and business owner in the country.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the strength of a democracy is measured by the clarity of its laws. When the rules are hidden, the law becomes a weapon of the powerful. When the rules are transparent and accessible, the law becomes a tool for the empowerment of the people. TORA is the key to unlocking that potential and driving India toward its goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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