What is ‘Overcriminalisation’ and How does the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 deal with it?

The Indian sphere of law comprises mainly the criminal laws that govern the crimes and punishment if those crimes are committed. For this purpose, India has a set of substantive and procedural criminal codes. Criminal law has been growing at a high pace without any principled basis for such an extreme overgrowth, and legislation has been playing a key role in it. Such over-criminalisation creates multiple repercussions like overcrowding of prisons, the pendency of cases, unnecessary expenditure of economic resources, degradation of laws and others which are discussed in detail in this paper. To control the problem of over-criminalization, the Jan Vishwas Bill of 2022 has been introduced in Parliament. The bill attempts to decriminalise minor offences under many existing legislations across the nation and replaces many imprisonment provisions for certain offences by setting a monetary penalty or by increasing the already existing one. However, it has been found that the Bill is insufficient for many purposes in various aspects. The scope of the Bill is restricted. The limitations have also been a matter of discussion in the paper.