Haryana Cabinet approves ordinance to decriminalise minor offences

In a move aimed at easing the regulatory burden, the Haryana Cabinet on Sunday, October 12, 2025, approved a proposal to implement the Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Ordinance, 2025.

The state cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, also approved the proposal to amend the Punjab Factories Rules, 1952, which allows women to be employed in certain processes in factories.

The Haryana Jan Vishwas Ordinance aims to decriminalize 164 provisions in 42 State Acts administered by 17 ministries, an official statement said.

“This initiative is in line with the Government of India’s vision to reduce compliance burden and decriminalize petty offenses across various sectors,” the statement said.

The regulation replaces criminal penalties for minor technical and procedural faults with civil penalties and administrative actions. It also eliminates outdated and unnecessary provisions, making the legal framework more transparent, efficient and facilitative.

This reform initiative follows the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act (2023) by the government of India, which decriminalized 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts.

As per the advisory issued by the Union government, Haryana has comprehensively reviewed its laws to adopt a similar approach at the state level, the statement said.

The implementation of the Haryana Jan Vishwas Regulations, 2025 was identified as a key action item during the fourth Chief Secretaries Conference and formed a key component of the ongoing Compliance Reduction and Liberalization (CRD) exercise coordinated by the Cabinet Secretariat of the government of India.

A series of meetings chaired by chief secretary Haryana, with the participation of administrative secretaries of all relevant departments, led to the finalization of this landmark reform.

The regulation will mark a major shift from sanction-based governance to trust-based governance.

This represents the most comprehensive decriminalization effort ever undertaken by any State government and represents the largest number of criminal provisions proposed to be removed, the statement said.

In another decision, the cabinet approved a proposal to amend the Punjab Factories Rules, 1952, which allows women to be employed in certain processes in factories.

The proposed change would allow fees applicable under the rules to be submitted online.

The proposed amendment allows women to be employed in all job categories, subject to prescribed safety conditions.

“The change will eliminate gender inequality, expand employment opportunities for women and promote inclusion in industrial sectors such as engineering, chemicals and manufacturing, where women’s participation was previously restricted,” the statement said.

“This reflects Haryana’s commitment to modern labor reforms, women’s empowerment and the principles of equal opportunities enshrined in Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India,” he said.

It also noted that the amendment ensures that pregnant women and nursing mothers are excluded from hazardous employment categories, thus maintaining the necessary health and safety protection.

The Haryana Cabinet also approved the framing of State rules under Sub-Section (1) of Section 49 of the Haryana Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017.

The new rules will be called Haryana Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Rules, 2025.

According to these rules, the State government will appoint commissioners of its six administrative divisions to serve as ombudsmen.

“As stated in Article 23 of the Act, their role is to address complaints and grievances of people living with HIV/AIDS. Each ombudsman will work within their respective departments (Rohtak, Hisar, Karnal, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ambala) and will be supported by the civil surgeon of the respective district,” the statement said.

The cabinet also approved amendments to the Haryana Jail Rules, 2022, which will include the definition of “equivalent offender”. The amended rules will be called Haryana Prison (Amendment) Rules, 2025.

As per the amended rules, the definition of habitual offender in rule 2, sub-rule (1), clause (xi) of the Haryana Prison Rules, 2022 has been revised.

“Absolute offender means a person who, within a continuous period of five years, has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment more than twice for one or more crimes committed on separate occasions and not forming parts of the same offence, and the sentence has not been reversed on appeal or review.”

The statement said, “In calculating the five-year uninterrupted period mentioned above, the periods spent in prison as imprisonment or detention will not be taken into account.”

The cabinet also approved the proposal to amend Rule 6(2) of the Punjab Village Common Land Rules, 1964, which makes provision for reserving 4% of the land proposed to be leased out for cultivation to persons with disability of 60% or more.

It was published – 12 October 2025 22:29 IST