weird laws around the world

Some people regard chewing gum as ill-mannered, but in Singapore its a criminal offence to chew gum unless its medicinal.

Thai baht carries the image of the much revered King of Thailand and stepping on the currency is a criminal act.

The need of the telegraph act is not present now as the only people who will use it will not utilize the telegraph to take India over. When this act was initially passed in the year 1885 the need then was still justified as there was no concept of televisions back then but now after being invoke by almost 5 times by Doordarshan over the right of telecasting matches played in India, it should definitely be removed now. Due to this act the telecast of 1996 World cup was almost at stake it was only because of Telecom Regulatory Act of 1994 which checks few provisions of The Telegraph Act that the mishaps of this act are saved. This act is yet to be revoked totally.

Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code is one of the most amusing laws till date. Section 497 of IPC states Adultery as an offence. The law incorporates some very comical gender discriminatory provisions. It punishes only a male who is doing adultery whereas a woman is freely allowed to cheat her husband. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender one of the most controversial and debated personifications have been the subject matter of section 377 which illegalizes any intercourse which is deemed to be against law of nature. Though in a recent Delhi High court judgement it has decriminalised sexual intercourse between bisexuals but an official amendment of the law is yet to be made.

The law for deciding the legal drinking age is the power of state government and hence varies for each state. E.g. in Gujarat consuming alcohol is totally banned whereas in Maharashtra the age limit after which a person can buy alcohol is 25 years. The funny part is the right to vote comes as a person turns 18 but age bars for alcohol consummation keeps on increasing. Its silly because if a person is considered old enough to decide who the next prime minister is he is sure to have knowledge about whether he should consume alcohol or not. Today as compared to other countries the legal age for drinking is the one of highest in India.

Section 309 of IPC makes suicides legal but not the attempts. If a person commits suicides he dies. There lies no further question of his actions as being legal or not but if a personal fails while attempting to commit suicide he is arrested. This runs parallel to the norms and custom usages of old Athens who denied the right of honoured burial to anyone who died after commenting suicide. On the contrary line there are the rituals of Japanese folks which states expects you to kill yourself if you are unable to perform your duties. Harakiri which is referred to as one of the forms of ritual suicide also revolves around the customs of Japanese.

As per one of the most efficient lawyer Mr Kadambi Lakshminarasimha, in the Indian air force one of the main requirements for the selection of a pilot is the length of his legs. The minimum requirement is set to 90 cm which means even if a person is very tall but his legs height is not 90 cm, he will not be qualified. In Indian army any use of knives during a battle is forbidden but for Naga regiment of Indian army an exclusive exemption is given to the Nagas to use their conventional knives

The process of enrolling a motor vehicle inspector in Andhra Pradesh includes satisfying of various physical tests, one of them being is the essential of having a good teeth. If any of the probable nominees has tooth decay, he is not eligible to be recruited for the post. Its weird to think the necessity of good teeth for an inspector of motor vehicles who will have no work related to the use of his teeth.

Instead of creating elaborate useless laws, India is in dire need of some efficient laws. This requires some quality time from the parliament, and as known the parliament spend very little time in law making. Situations can only change after the result of the Lokpal which ought to change the directions of our politicians and make them work for the betterment of the country.

Bhagwat is a small-time entrepreneur who operates a clothing factory. The business is doing well and the next logical step would be to expand his business and become bigger. The only hurdle is, as soon as the number of employees in Bhagwat's business exceeds 100, he would come under draconian Indian labor laws. There are 55 central laws and more than 100 labor laws. According to one law, a business with more than 100 employees cannot fire people without government permission. To top it off, the permission is rarely granted.