The Delhi High Court on Wednesday told the Centre to consider a representation seeking the removal of legal provisions from the statute that have been declared unconstitutional, Live Law reported.

In Indian law, the word “statute” is generally used to refer to all legislation passed by Parliament and state Assemblies that are currently in force. It also includes laws passed before Independence that remain operational.

The High Court passed the direction in response to a petition demanding that updated criminal law books, bare acts, and judgements of the Supreme Court and High Courts should be made available to police stations.

Lawyer Anshul Bajaj, who filed the petition, noted that the Supreme Court in July had expressed shock over police authorities continuing to file cases under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which it had scrapped in 2015.

He also referred to the Supreme Court’s judgements that decriminalised homosexuality and struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which dealt with adultery.

Bajaj contended that such provisions continue to be used by police officials although the Supreme Court has struck them down, PTI reported. He said that he gave a representation to the authorities on the matter in August, but no action was taken.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Amit Bansal directed the Centre to treat Bajaj’s petition as a representation and take a decision as soon as possible and practicable. The court then disposed of the petition.

On July 14, the Centre had directed states and Union Territories to immediately withdraw all existing cases under Section 66A of the IT Act. The provision allowed the police to make arrests for posting offensive content online.

On August 2, the Supreme Court had issued notices to all states and Union Territories in response to a petition by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties. The organisation alleged that police authorities across the country have been misusing the provision.