Law Commission of India:

Law in a society should be dynamics not as a static object as in black letter law. Society continue in changing nature so as the law of the society.

The first such Commission was established in 1834 under the Charter act of 1833 under the chairmanship of Lord Macaulay which recommended codification of the Penal code, the Criminal Procedure Code and a few other matters.

The Government of India reacted favourably and establish the first law commission of independent India in 1955 with the Attorney General of India, Mr MC Setalvad, as its chairman.

Law commission and it's chairman:

First Law Commission:

The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955. The Chairman of this commission was Mr. M. C. Setalvad, who was also the First Attorney General of India. The term of this commission was established as three years (which by convention has been followed till date) and this Commission submitted its last report on 16 September 1958. 

Second Law Commission:

The Second Law Commission was established in 1958 under the Chairmanship of Justice T. V. Venkatarama Aiyar. It stayed in office till 1961.

Third Law Commission:

The Third Law Commission was established in 1961 under the Chairmanship of Justice J. L. Kapur. It stayed in office till 1964.

Fourth Law Commission:

The Fourth Law Commission was established in 1964 and was again under the Chairmanship of Justice J. L. Kapur. It stayed in office till 1968.

Fifth Law Commission:

The Fifth Law Commission was established in 1968 under the Chairmanship of Mr. K. V. K. Sundaram. It stayed in office till 1971.

Sixth Law Commission:

The Sixth Law Commission was established in 1971 under the Chairmanship of Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar. It stayed in office till 1974.

Seventh Law Commission:

The Seventh Law Commission was established in 1974 again under the Chairmanship of Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar. It stayed in office till 1977.

Eighth Law Commission:

The Eighth Law Commission was established in 1977 under the Chairmanship of Justice H. R. Khanna. It stayed in office till 1979.

Ninth Law Commission:

The Ninth Law Commission was established in 1979 under the Chairmanship of Justice P. V. Dixit. It stayed in office till 1980.

Tenth Law Commission:

The Tenth Law Commission was established in 1981 under the Chairmanship of Justice K. K. Mathew. It stayed in office till 1985.

Eleventh Law Commission:

The Eleventh Law Commission was established in 1985 under the Chairmanship of Justice D. A. Desai. It stayed in office till 1988.

Twelfth Law Commission:

The Twelfth Law Commission was established in 1988 under the Chairmanship of Justice Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar. It stayed in office till 1991.

Thirteenth Law Commission:

The Thirteenth Law Commission was established in 1991 under the Chairmanship of Justice K. N. Singh. It stayed in office till 1994.

Fourteenth Law Commission:

The Fourteenth Law Commission was established in 1995 under the Chairmanship of Justice K. Jayachandra Reddy. It stayed in office till 1997.

Fifteenth Law Commission:

The Fifteenth Law Commission was established in 1997 under the Chairmanship of Justice B. P. Jeevan Reddy. It stayed in office till 2000.

Sixteenth Law Commission:

The Sixteenth Law Commission was established in 2000. For the period till 2001 Justice B. P. Jeevan Reddy continued as the Chairman of the commission while in the period between 2002 and 2003 the Commission worked under the Chairmanship of Justice M. Jagannadha Rao.

Seventeenth Law Commission:

The Seventeenth Law Commission was established in 2003 and continued to be under the Chairmanship of Justice M. Jagannadha Rao. It stayed in office till 2006.

Eighteenth Law Commission:

The Eighteenth Law Commission of India was established on 1 September 2006 and continued till 31 August 2009. Justice M. Jagannadha Rao continued to serve as the Chairman of the commission until 28 May 2007 on which date Justice A. R. Lakshmanan was appointed as the Chairman of the commission.

Nineteenth Law Commission:

The nineteenth Law Commission of India's Chairman was Chairman Mr. Justice P. V. Reddi, 2009-2012 of 19th Law Commission.

Twentieth Law Commission:

The Twentieth Law Commission of India's Chairman were Justice D. K. Jain from January 2013 to October 2013 and Justice A. P. Shah from November 2013 to August 2015.

Review/ Repeal of Obsolete Laws: 

• To identify laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed.
• To identify laws which are in harmony with the existing climate of economic liberalisation which need no change.
• To identify laws which require changes or amendments and to make suggestions for their amendment.
• To consider in a wider perspective the suggestions for revision/amendment given by expert groups in various ministries/departments with view to coordinating cand harmonising them.
• To consider references made to it by ministries/ department in respect of legislation having bearing on the working of more than one ministry/ department.

To Suggest suitable measures for quick redressal of citizens grievances, in the field of law. 

 (a) Examine the Laws which affect the poor and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislations.

 (b) Take all such measures as may be necessary to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor. 

 Keep under review the system of judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive to the reasonable demands of the times and in particular to secure: 

(a) elimination of delays, speedy clearance of arrears and reduction in costs so as to secure quick and economical disposal of cases without affecting the cardinal principle that decisions should be just and fair.

 (b) simplification of procedure to reduce and eliminate technicalities and devices for delay so that it operates not as an end in itself but as a means of achieving justice. 

(c) improvement of standards of all concerned with the administration of justice.

 (d) Examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and to suggest ways of improvement and reform and also to suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble to the Constitution. 

(e)Examine the existing laws with a view for promoting gender equality and suggesting amendments thereto. 

(f)Revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and to remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities. 

(g) Recommend to the Government measure for making the statute book up to date by repealing obsolete laws and enactments or parts thereof which have outlived their utility. 

(h)Consider and to convey to the Government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs). 

Consider the requests for providing research to any foreign countries as may be referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law & Justice (Department of Legal Affairs). 

(j) Examine the impact of globalization on food security, unemployment and recommend measures for the protection of the interests of the marginalized.

Twenty-First Law Commission:

In 2015, the Law Ministry had forwarded a list of 48 former judges of high courts and Supreme Court to the Prime Minister's Office to select the next Law Commission Chairperson. The term of the 20th Law Commission ended on 30 August last year and the Union Cabinet approved creation of the 21st Law Commission on 9 September. The Law Ministry brought out a notification to create the 21st law panel on 14 September last.

One of the key issues pending before the law panel is a call on amending the Indian Penal Code amid allegations of abuse and arbitrary use of the law. The Law Ministry had urged the commission to study the usage of the provisions of Section 124A of the IPC.

Former Supreme Court judge Balbir Singh Chauhan was appointed Chairman of the 21st Law Commission. Mr. Justice Ravi R. Tripathi, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court was appointed as Full-time Member.

On 10 June 2016, Mr. Satya Pal Jain, Additional Solicitor General of India was appointed as Part-time Member of the commission.

Question to answer:

Who is the present law commission of India?

Let me know in the comment.