Important Bills & Acts

A bill is a draft of a proposed law placed before Parliament; it becomes an Act only after completing every stage and receiving assent.

• It must be passed by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
• It then goes to the President for assent under Article 111; once assented, the bill becomes an Act (law).
• A Money Bill (Article 110) can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and only on the President's recommendation.

• Ordinary Bill — any bill other than financial, money or constitutional amendment bills.
• Money Bill — deals only with taxation, borrowing or the Consolidated Fund (Article 110).
• Financial Bill — involves revenue/expenditure but is wider than a money bill.
• Constitutional Amendment Bill — amends the Constitution under Article 368; needs a special majority.

Three new criminal laws replace the colonial-era codes to make India's justice system more modern, efficient, speedy and people-friendly. All three were introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, 2023.

• Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 — repeals the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973; contains 533 sections; provides the procedure for arrest, prosecution and bail.
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 — replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872; modernises evidence law by recognising electronic records and e-oral evidence, expanded secondary evidence, and clarifies joint trials.

• 20 new offences added; 19 IPC provisions deleted.
• Imprisonment increased in 33 offences; fines increased in 83 offences.
• Community service introduced in 6 offences; mandatory minimum punishment in 23 offences.
• Removes colonial-era offences like sedition and adultery.
• Introduces organised crime and terrorism as offences, with stricter penalties including life imprisonment or death.
• Provides protection against gang rape of minors, penalises sexual deceit, and extends certain offences to boys.

Beyond the criminal codes, a few economic and competition laws are repeatedly asked in SSC CGL.

• It replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1969, and came into force on 20 May 2009 to support economic liberalisation.
• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced through the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016, creating a unified indirect tax that replaced multiple central and state taxes — the "One Nation, One Tax" reform. (GST was rolled out from 1 July 2017.)
• The 101st Amendment inserted Article 246A (concurrent GST powers), Article 269A (inter-State GST levy and sharing) and Article 279A (GST Council), strengthening cooperative federalism.

Constitutional Amendment Acts are among the highest-yield SSC topics — memorise the amendment number with its single core change.

• 44th Amendment, 1978 — replaced the term "internal disturbance" with "armed rebellion" in the context of National Emergency.
• 61st Amendment, 1989 — reduced the voting age from 21 years to 18 years, aligning India with the USA (1971) and UK (1969).
• 36th Amendment, 1975 — made Sikkim a full-fledged (22nd) State of India after a 1975 referendum.
• 35th Amendment, 1974 — made Sikkim an associate state of India (the step before full statehood).

Emergency provisions are extraordinary powers to be used only in exceptional circumstances for the protection of the nation. They are covered under Articles 352 to 360 in Part XVIII of the Constitution.

• Article 352 — Proclamation of National Emergency (war, external aggression or armed rebellion).
• Article 356 — President's Rule (failure of constitutional machinery in States).
• Article 358 — suspension of Article 19 during a National Emergency.
• Article 359 — suspension of enforcement of Fundamental Rights (Part III).
• Article 360 — Financial Emergency.

This table consolidates every Act, Bill and Amendment in this chapter, plus the standard high-yield SSC welfare laws.