New Delhi, June 23 -- In 1934, the Panama Refining Company vs Ryan case being argued before the US Supreme Court stalled with the embarrassing discovery that the legal provision in question no longer existed.

Similar situations play out in the everyday lives of Indians because of the lack of a single source of truth for citizens and enterprises. This lack of Jan Vishwas (citizen trust) imposes huge costs on justice, inclusiveness and mass prosperity. It's time for a central government mission aimed at assuring us that any instrument or obligation not listed will not exist.

America's experience is instructive. As Erwin Griswold (who would later become solicitor general) pointed out in a 1934 article titled 'Government in ignorance of the...