"Reimage the system", Justice Manmohan calls for change in archaic laws

Justice Manmohan of the Supreme Court of India has called for an overhaul of the financial laws in the country. If you want to be a futuristic economy you have to change the archaic laws, Justice Manmohan said while speaking at Nyaya Nirmaan 2025, a dialogue hosted by GCAI on the theme “Reimagining India’s Legal Foundations for Viksit Bharat @ 2047.”

"If you want to be a futuristic economy, how do you want to become a futuristic part of the world? You can't do it with arctic laws. You need to have new laws.", Justice Manmohan said.

Citing the working of the system in place, Justice Manmohan added, "How does an income tax officer or a GST officer treat you when you are generating wealth for the country? He treats you as a thief. His mindset is something must be improper if you are generating wealth. That whole mindset that ecosystem has to change...".

He added that it was not the case that this was not happening and lot of reforms had been brought about.

"Let's take the income tax faceless assessment that has come. It's a giant step forward. If parliament wants it can reimagine the system. Look at GST today where they are using artificial intelligence to find out where the fraud is taking place, where the taxes are not being paid. Very imaginative. But I think if you want to be a 30 or a $35 trillion economy, you need to do much much more. You can't have an income tax act which is running into about 500 pages and one provision running into five pages with five provisors and the CBD circlers running in the teeth of that section. Only a genius can understand it. I tell you ordinary layman cannot understand these provisions.", Justice Manmohan said.

Citing the reform brought about in GST laws and terming them to be 'very forwardlooking', the supreme court judge has asked, "Why can't you do it with the income tax act?".

Addressing how government of India litigates in each and every forum and is the biggest litigant today, he observed that mistrust within government departments often prevents officials from settling disputes, as they fear later scrutiny or investigations.

Justice Manmohan further said that India’s vision for 2047 must go beyond legal compliance to focus on true justice, fairness, and transparency. He stressed that piecemeal reform is not enough, and what the country needs is nothing short of a complete transformation in its legal and regulatory approach.

On practices in the United States, the judge said tax matters are often resolved informally or over the phone, without cumbersome processes or show-cause notices and suggested that India should move toward more accessible and efficient systems, where routine disputes are addressed swiftly and remotely.