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REFERENCE NOTE .
No. 10/RN/Ref./February/2016
REPEAL OF STATUTES:
CURRENT POSITION
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The reference material is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is not
for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of the information as it is based on the sources
indicated at the end/in the text. This Service does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of the
information or views contained in the note/collection.
REPEAL OF STATUTES: CURRENT POSITION
INTRODUCTION
Repeal means to revoke, abrogate or cancel particularly a statute. Any statute may
repeal any Act in whole or in part, either expressly or impliedly by enacting matter contrary to
and inconsistent with the prior legislation. Thus a statute frequently states that certain prior
statutory provisions are thereby repealed. The courts will treat matter as repealed by implication
only if the earlier and later statutory provisions are clearly inconsistent. When a repealing
provision is itself repealed, this does not revive any provision previously repealed by it, unless
intent to revive is apparent, but it may allow common law principles again to apply.
Under General Clauses Act, 1897, Section 6 "Repeal" connotes abrogation or obliteration
of one statute by another, from the statute book as completely "as if it had never been passed."
When an Act is repealed "it must be considered (except as to transactions past and closed) as if
it had never existed."
Just as the Legislature has the power to enact laws, similarly it has the power to repeal
laws. The efficacy of the Legislature depends upon the possession of the power to repeal the
existing law, for without this attribute the power to enact would be a nullity, and the body of the
law a series of contradictory enactments. Consequently the legislative power to repeal prior laws
is not inhibited by any constitutional prohibitions, but exists as a necessary part and increment
of the legislative power and function. No statute can make itself secure against repeal. There is
nothing to prevent any Parliament from enacting that a particular statute shall never in any
circumstances be altered or abrogated. It is within the power of any Parliament to repeal any of
the Acts passed by its predecessors and that it is not within the power of any Parliament to
prevent the repeal of any of its own Acts, or to bind its successors.
Repealing and amending Acts have no legislative effect, but are designed for editorial
revision, being intended only to excise dead matter from the statute book and to reduce its
volume .Mostly, they expurgate amending Acts, because having imparted the amendments to
the main Acts, those Acts have served their purpose and have no further reasons for their
existence. At times, inconsistencies are also removed by repealing and amending Acts. The
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only object of such Acts, which in England are called Statute Law Revision Acts, is legislative
spring-cleaning and they are not intended to make any change in the law.
A statute is either perpetual or temporary. It is perpetual when no time is fixed for its
duration, and such a statute remains in force until its repeal which may be express or implied. A
perpetual statute is not perpetual in the sense that it cannot be repealed; it is perpetual in the
sense that it is not abrogated by efflux of time or by non-user. A statute is temporary when its
duration is only for a specified time, and such a statute expires on the expiry of the specified
time unless it is repealed earlier. Simply because the purpose of a statute, as mentioned in its
preamble, is temporary, the statute cannot be regarded as temporary when no fixed period is
specified for its duration. The Finance Acts which are annual Acts are not temporary Acts and
they often contain provisions of a general character which are of a permanent operation. A
cessation of transitional legislative power has also no effect on the continuance of a perpetual
Act enacted during the continuance of that power. The duration of a temporary statute may be
extended by a fresh statute or by exercise of a power conferred under the original statute. When
the life of a temporary Act is merely extended, it cannot be said that a new law has been
enacted; but if the extension is accompanied by any substantial amendment, it would not be a
case of mere extension. It appears that after a temporary statute expires, it cannot be made
effective by merely amending the same. The only apt manner of reviving the expired statute is
by re-enacting a statute in similar terms or by enacting a statute expressly saying that the
expired Act is herewith revived1.
1
http://www.scribd.com.doc.93540615/Repeal-of-statutes
2
The Hindu, New Delhi, dated 15.9.2014
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During the course of its study the Commission found that a large number of Appropriation
Acts passed during past several years have lost their meaning but these are still shown on
statue-books. The Appropriation Acts are intended to operate for a limited period of time-
authorising expenditures for the duration of one financial year, or less, for example in the case
of Vote on Account Bills. Though these Acts are not usually included in any list of Central Acts,
either by the Ministry of Law and Justice, or elsewhere, these laws still technically remain on the
books.
In India, however, no such mechanism is in place and Appropriation Acts continue to sit
on statute-books. The Law Commission recommended that a practice like the one of the United
Kingdom to include a repeal clause in the Appropriation Act every year would serve a useful
purpose, without necessitating major amendments or introduction of new laws.
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The 20th Law Commission of India had undertaken a study “The Legal Enactments :
Simplification and Streamlining” and the Committee till date had submitted four (interim)
Reports titled "Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal" wherein it has identified,
analyzed and duly recommended a number of archaic statutes as well as certain pre-
constitution and pre-independence enactments for either complete or partial repeal as per
contemporary requirements3.
Ramanujam Committee
Prime Minister on August 2014 had approved the constitution of a Committee to carry out
a review to identify obsolete laws and to examine all Acts recommended to be repealed by the
Committee on Review of Administrative Laws, which had been appointed by the Union
Government of the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 1998. The Prime Minister
has expressed concern that out of the 1382 Acts recommended for repeal by that Committee,
only 415 have been repealed so far. He has called for a focused and result-oriented exercise to
systematically weed out archaic laws and rules4.
(ii) to identify the Acts amending the Central Acts which can be wholly or partially repealed in
view of section 6A of the General Clauses Act, 1897;
(iii) to identify the Central Acts which would require revisiting in the present socioeconomic
context through appropriate amendments thereto or re-enactment thereof ".
3
Law Commission of India, Report No. 248 on "Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal", September 2014,
pp. 6-8
4
PIB Release, dated 27.8.2014
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At the outset, the Committee prepared the status of the Central Acts enacted from the
year 1834 to 15th October, 2014. Briefly, the aforesaid status of the Central Acts is given in the
Table below:—
TABLE
The Committee has identified total 1741 Central Acts for repeal, out of total 2781 Central
Acts existing as on 15th October, 2014 on the Statutes Book.
The details of aforesaid 1741 Central Acts identified for repeal given as under:
ii). 83 Central Acts relating to State subjects identified for repeal by the State Legislatures;
iii). 624 Central Appropriation Acts (in whole) upto the year 2010 identified for repeal;
iv). 257 Central Appropriation Acts in respect of States identified for repeal (in whole) by the
State Legislatures.
Briefly, out of 2781 Central Acts existing on the Statutes Book, the gist of the
identification of Central Acts for repeal, consolidation, re-enactment and retention is briefly
indicated as below:—
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ii). Total Central Acts identified for consolidation and 150 No's
re-grouping under 21 proposed
iii). Total Central Acts identified for repeal and re- 55 No's
enactment Central Acts.
In addition to 1741 Central Acts identified for repeal, the Committee has identified 150
Central Acts (on the related subjects/matters) to be consolidated and enacted into 21 Central
Acts to avoid multiplicity of laws.
In addition to above, the Committee identified 55 Central Acts for repeal and reenactment
thereof.
The Committee has identified 18 Central Acts suggested for repeal but recommended by
the Committee for retention thereof at the present5.
“The enactment of Repealing and Amending Act since 1950 is one of the periodical
measures undertaken by the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law whereby enactments
which have ceased to be in force or have become obsolete or the retention whereof as separate
and independent Act is unnecessary, then, such enactments are repealed, or as the case may
be, to remove any formal defects in any enactment which comes to notice during its
administration.
So far, ten Repealing and Amending Acts have been passed through which 1367
enactments have been repealed. The principal object of such Acts is to “exercise dead matter,
prune off superfluities and reject clearly inconsistent enactments”. The last such enactment was
5
Ramanujam Committee Report, PMO, November 2014, pp. 1-3
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the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 (30 of 2001), in which the Acts from the year 1985 to
1998 were included”.
The following table depicts Repealing and Amending Acts since 1950
Total 1367
A perusal of the above tabular chart suggests that while the first repealing and amending
exercise was carried out in the year 1950. The next exercise was initiated after a gap of 2 years
i.e. 1952, the third such exercise was initiated after a gap of 1 year, Fourth after 4 years , Fifth
after 3 years, sixth after 4 years, seventh after 10 years, Eighth after 4 years, Ninth after 10
years and the last such exercise was initiated after 13 long years6.
The Central Government's resolve to bring reform in the legal system of the country, to
make it more accessible to the common man and to imbibe the principles of rule of law, has,
6
Rajya Sabha, Report of the Select Committee on The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014, February 2015, pp. 8-9
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inter-alia, began with the review of enactments which are obsolete, redundant and unnecessary.
In fulfilment of this objective, the Central Government has undertaken a comprehensive review
of laws and the legal system with a view to remove incoherent and redundant laws.
As a step forward towards this direction, the Central Government has undertaken the
following initiatives towards achieving its objective to repeal obsolete and redundant laws. The
following Acts, namely, (i) the Repealing and Amending Act, 2015 (17 of 2015) to repeal 35
Acts; (ii) the Repealing and Amending (Second) Act, 2015 (19 of 2015) to repeal 90 Acts have
been enacted (see Annexure). The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015 (to repeal 758
Appropriation Acts) and the Repealing and Amending (Fourth) BIll, 2015 (to repeal 295 obsolete
and redundant laws) as passed by the House of the People on 11 May, 2015 and 6 August
2015 respectively, are pending in the Council of States. On remaining Acts, action for repeal is
at different stages. On being enacted, it would reduce obsolete laws and bring in clarity to those
for whose benefit the laws are enacted7.
Conclusion
The Government is moving purposefully to secure a declared objective of the Prime
Minister: the identification and repeal of archaic laws that bloat up the statute books,
occasionally conflict with other laws and may hinder governance and growth.
However, sporadic commissions and initiatives would serve the purpose erratically.
Lawmaking is the routine business of Government, and review for possible repeal should also
happen routinely. If a review system were in place, our statute books would be slimmer8.
7
Lok Sabha, Bill No. 194 of 2015, Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill 2015
8
The Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 20.8.2014
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Annexure
Acts repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act 2015 (17 of 2015)
Acts repealed by the Repealing and Amending (Second) Act, 2015 (19 of 2015)
1999 1 The Export-Import Bank of India (Amendment) Act, 1998 The whole.
1999 7 The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions The whole
1999 16 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 1999
2000 1 The Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2000
2000 7 The Small Industries Development Bank of India(Amendment) Act, The whole.
2000
2000 15 The National Housing Bank (Amendment) Act, 2000 The whole.
2000 18 The Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in The whole
Parliament (Facilities) Amendment Act, 2000
2000 22 The Major Port Trusts (Amendment) Act, 2000 The whole.
2000 35 The Border Security Force (Amendment) Act, 2000 The whole.
2000 39 The State Financial Corporations (Amendment) Act, 2000 The whole.
2000 44 The Multimodal Transportation of Goods (Amendment) Act, 2000 The whole.
2000 55 The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2000
2001 38 The Government of Union Territories and the Government of National The whole.
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2001 40 The Inland Waterways Authority of India (Amendment) Act, 2001 The whole
2001 46 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2001
2002 14 The Inter-State Water Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2002 The whole.
2002 29 The Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament and Leaders of The whole.
Opposition in Parliament (Amendment) Act, 2002
2002 30 The Sugar Development Fund (Amendment) Act, 2002 The whole.
2002 34 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2002
2002 40 The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Act, The whole.
2002
2002 51 The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 The whole.
2002 52 The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 The whole.
2002 56 The Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament and Leaders of The whole
Opposition in Parliament (Second Amendment) Act, 2002
2003 7 The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) The whole
Amendment Act, 2002
2003 8 The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) The whole.
Amendment Act, 2002
2003 10 The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders(Amendment) The whole
Act, 2002
2003 35 The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2003 The whole.
2003 44 The Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2003 The whole.
2003 48 The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2003
2003 58 The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Act, 2003 The whole.
2004 9 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2003
2004 24 The Banking Regulation (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions The whole.
Act, 2004
2004 30 The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2004
2005 19 The Government of Union Territories and the Government of National The whole.
Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2005
2005 40 The Sree ChitraTirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, The whole.
Trivandrum (Amendment) Act, 2005
2005 46 The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions The whole.
of Service) Amendment Act, 2005
2006 5 The Government of Union Territories and the Government of National The whole.
Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2006
2006 26 The Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Act, 2006 The whole.
2006 40 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2006
2006 45 The Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings The whole.
and Financial Institutions Laws(Amendment) Act, 2006
2007 18 The National Tax Tribunal (Amendment) Act, 2007 The whole.
2007 30 The State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks Laws) Amendment Act, The whole
2007
2007 32 The State Bank of India (Amendment) Act, 2007 The whole.
2008 4 The Sugar Development Fund (Amendment) Act, 2008 The whole.
2009 5 The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008 The whole.
2009 11 The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2008 The whole.
2009 20 The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development The whole.
Authority (Amendment) Act, 2009
2009 23 The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions The whole.
of Service) Amendment Act, 2009
2009 48 The State Bank of Saurashtra (Repeal) and the State Bank of India Sections 3 to
(Subsidiary Banks) Amendment Act, 2009 11.
2010 27 The State Bank of India (Amendment) Act, 2010 The whole.
2010 37 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2010
2010 41 The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2010 The whole.
2010 43 The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Act, 2010 The whole.
2011 7 The State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Amendment Act, 2011 The whole.
2011 17 The State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks Laws) Amendment Act, The whole
2011
2012 5 The New Delhi Municipal Council (Amendment) Act, 2011 The whole.
2012 8 The Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2011 The whole.
2012 11 The Export-Import Bank of India (Amendment) Act, 2011 The whole.
2012 26 The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws The whole.
(Amendment) Act, 2012
2012 36 The Chemical Weapons Convention (Amendment) Act, 2012 The whole
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2013 1 The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws The whole
Amendment) Act, 2012