India, March 31 -- Consider this sequence of events, entirely possible under the current laws in India - a pig wanders out of its pen and spoils a neighbour's kitchen garden. Police are called. The pig's owner is charged with a criminal offence, produced before a magistrate, and potentially fined Rs.10 - a sum last considered adequate as punishment in 1871.

Now picture this, more plausible scenario: we are in Delhi, and a man is urinating himself against a wall, thus technically guilty of a criminal offence punishable under the New Delhi Municipal Council Act.

Now, say, you are in a metro compartment, and a fellow commuter lights a cigarette. That person just committed a criminal offence, with a fine of Rs.250 that hasn't been revised s...