188 189

oeneral Clauses Act, 1897 (

f relating
14. coMMENCEMENT, REPEAL AND · Jlllllencement o legislation) S . to
co , ect1on 3 (l 3 ):
REVIVAL OF LEGISLATION (OR) ST.ATU'l't rnmencement . used With re£e
•Co rence to
1• gulation, means the day O . an Act or
AND GENERAL CLAUSES ACT, 1897 Re n which th
Regulation comes into force. e Act or
I
[IMPORTANT] If the Act does not insist on publi ti
ii, . . ca on of a statute
corne into force, 1t comes into £ .
to orce immediate!
SYNOPSIS:
after the zero hours on that Particul d Y
ar ate on which
tt is expressed to come into force. S 0 b. .
A. Commencement and operation of legislation . pu lication in
official gazette 1s not mandatory.
B. Repeal of legislaµon
C. Revival of legislation iii · If no particular date of commencement mentioned
1-8
then a statute comes into force at the fir s t moment'
A. COMMENCEMENT AND OPERATION OF of the day t~e assent of the President of India is
LEGISLATION: received. It means the statute comes into force at
. Zero hours on the date of assent.
1. Introduction: ·
The term 'Commencement' means the day on which s. Section 5:
the Act ·comes into force. Usually, a Central Act comes
I. If any Central Act is not expressed to come into
into oper·a tion on the day it receives the Presidential
operation on a particular day, then it shall come into
assent.
operation the day on which it receives the assent
The Acts or statutes are passed after thorough
discussions by elected representatives on the floor of a. in the case of a Central Act made before the
the Parliament or the State Legislatures. After that, commencement of the Constitution, the Govemor-
General,
they are sent for the assent of the President or the
Governor of the State, as the case may be. A statute
commences from the date it receives assent of th e b. in the case of an Act of Parliament. the President of
lndta
President/ Governor.
 191
190
state oovernmenta:
ii. The Central Act or Regulation shall be constru_
coming into operation immediately on the
of the date preceding its commencement.
exp.: as
lion
8,
1. AS di h
.
far as the State Governments
are concern
states in 1n a ave their own Genera1 ed, many
d fhe rules therein govern th Clauses Acts
all e comm
4. · Section 2~: the respective State Acts. encement of .
If, by any Central Act or regulation, a power t0·
lssu ,_e General Clauses Acts of so
any notification, order, scheme, rule, form or by _1 e II• me States
- e aw I 1 ,...
. conferred ' then expressions used in the noun catto s that if no specific date of comrnenc provtde
ement of a stat
order, scheme, rule form or bye-law, shall have the ll, provided, it shall come into fo ute
15 , rce on the da
88.tne
meaning as in the Act or regulation conferring the power receives the assent of the Governor 0 f th Y It
· . . e State.
1n simple tertns same expressions in the confer.-1- ·
•uug anct
conferred Acts will . have same meanings. Iii. The General Clauses Acts of some 0 th er States
Provide that if no specific
· date has bee n provtded for
5. Section 22: Its commencement, a statute will come into ,,orce on
In any Central Act or Regulation which is not to come the date of the publication of the statute in official
into force immediately on the passing, of such Act or Gazette after having received the assent of the
regulation, if any power is conferred to make rules or Governor of the State.
bye-laws or to issue orders with respect to the application
of the Act or regulation, then such power may be 7. or1era and notification of administrative bodies:
exercised at any time after the passing of the Act or · For orde.rs or notifications issued by administrative
regulation; but rules , bye-rules, bye-laws or orders so bodies under a statute, normally it Is presumed that
made or issued can not take effect till the they take effect from the date of their publication 1n the
commencement of the Act or regulation. Official Gazette.

MEANING:
Some times , the Parent Central Act , though has
received the assent of the President, its coming to force
may be postponed. In such circumstances, the power
conferred by such parent Central Act to make rules, by
laws, orders,' etc., does not com~ into effect. until such
parent Act comes into force.
8. Writ for enforcement of a new enactm_ent:
If sufficient time has elapsed after an Act has been
passed \and if it has not been brought into operation by
the Government for quite sometime, then through a writ,
lhe Court can direct the Government as to when the
Act Would ~ome into force.
 192
193
date/different dates f
Deferred future C>t EAL OF LEGISLATION <REPEAL O
9. f
commencement o an .
Act·
. II· Jlf;P . · F LAW):
6 of the General Clauses Act
The commenc ement of an Act invariably is contro11e(j 1. sel tton . 1s97_
. of the Act itself. Sometimes an eads: if this Act, or any Central A t
by the provisions • A.ct
ediately after it receives the assent Jt r c or Regulation
commences im m of after the commencement of this A t
t of India but sometimes the sarn !Jlade c , repeals any
the Presi end e ls 1:rnent, the repeal shall not :-
fu ture date depending on the provtsions enac
t
deferre d o a of
the Act.
revive anything not in force or existing at the time at
Sometimes different dates may be stipulated for i, which .the re~eal takes effect;

commencement of different provisions for different areas

within a State. . affect the previous operation of any enactment so
11.
repe·a ted:
IO.Local extent of the statute:
Every Act States the extent of its territorial operation. ill, affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability
The enacting clause generally reads that the Act shall acquired, accrued or incurred under any enactment
extend to a named area. so repealed;

11. Duration of the Act:

iv. affect any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred
It is for the Legislature to state ho_w long a particular in respect of any offence co.m mitted against any
Act will . be in operation and this power cannot be enactment so repealed;
delegated to the discretion of some other person or body.

v. aff~ct any, investigation, legal proceeding or remedy

12.'Perpetual and Temporary Acts:
Statutes for which no time is specified is a perpetual
Act and continues in force till it is repealed. If an Act
contains a provision that it is to be in force only for .a
specified time, it is called a temporary Act. A temporal)'
Act comes to an end at the end of the period for which it
is enacted.
in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation,
liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment and any
such · investigation, legal proceeding or remedy
already instituted or may be instituted, continued
or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or
Pllnishment may be imposed as if the repealing Act
or Regulation has not been passed.
 194 195
ting of rtpt• even after repeaJ ~o:
2 • Continued ve• or 'II
appointment, not1flcaUon ord
Act: l',!IY • er, scheme ruI
Oil Mill Vs. Gondhra Electrf bye-law made under the old A ' e,
In Jfndas cft11 ""' or ct, after r
/01'~ e to be in force provided such epeaJ,
company: 11tltl0 appointment
co tton, etc., are not inconsistent With th ·,
e court held that rights vest ootlllca repealed Act, e provtslons
The suprem Cd
d a statute. continue to be vested ln 1.. 1ll of we new .
meone un er •1111)
so h the statute is repealed and replac d ,
en thoug e b~ S, JIIIPJled Repe_a l by a later enactment:
ev H •ever if the new statute clearly Pro ,
another. ow b Vides
t can not continue to e vested, the garai V•• Henry Ah Hoe:
that the righ n the f,
f the new Act will prevail.
provision o T}le supreme Court held that when the Parliament
subsequently enacted the Central Amendment Act In
3, Continued right• and UabWties even after repel]
resP ect of.the same subject, this becomes a 1ater 1aw
of an Act: made by Parllam~nt. Hence the State Act namely West
The principle underlying Section 6 of the General eeng~ Amendment Act stood Impliedly repeale<;I. The
Clauses Act, 1897 is that If a statute Is repealed and central Amendment Act having dealt with the same
offence and provided for reduced punishment, the
rep1ace d by another statute. the rights. accrued and th e
liabilities Incurred under the old statute contl~ue, accused must be sentenced for the reduced punishment
provided a contrary Intention Is not expressed In the under the Central Act.
new Act.
e, Repeallnl Act prevails under the old repealed Act:
4. section 24 of the General Clauses Act, 1897: Vlnod Our udas Raikar Vs. National Insurance
It reads that If any Central Act or regulation Is, Company Limited:
after the commencement of this Act. repealed and re- Motor ·vehicle accident took place when the Motor
enacted, then any appointment, notification , order, Vehicles Act, 1939 was In force but the claim petition
scheme. n:i1e, fonn or bye-law, made under the old Act was filed after this Act was repealed by the Motor
or regulation, shall, so far a:s It Is not Inconsistent Vehicles Act, 1988. The Supreme Cour·t held that the
with the provisions re-enacted, continue In force, and question of condonation of delay must be governed by
ts deemed to have been made under the newly re· the new law and , therefore, delay of more than six
enacted provisions. months from date ( ccldent could not be condoned.
\
 196
LAw OF REPUGNANCY:
7 • •Later statute repeals the earlier -statute:
The later Statute prevails over the earlier statute .
. . ,if
there is any repugnancy m meanmg of word
S Or
'language. Such repugnancy is over come by repeal of
the earlier statute.
R.S. Raghu Nath Vs. State of Kam_
a taka:
The Supreme Court observed that a later statute
may repeal an earlier statute either expressly orb
implication. This is known by the legal maxim, "leg~
postireores priores conterarias abrogate" (later laws
abrogate earlier contrary laws)
8. Effect of Repeal:
In common law, if an Act had expired or was repealed,
it would be presumed that the Act never existed, and all
the matters already decided under the Act were closed.
Therefore, during the pendency of a -~e. if a statute expired
or was repealed, all transactions under it were closed.
9. Section 6-A of the General Clauses Act:
"If any Central Act or Regulation made after the
commencement of this Act repeals any enactment by
which the text of any Central Act or Regulation was
amended by the express omission, insertion or substitution
of any matter, then unless a different intention appears,
the repeal shall not affect the continuance of any su~
amendment made by the enactment so repealed and ill
operation at the time of such repeal".
197
..eaning: In the old repealed A .
J."P ct, 1f th
endment, then such amendment in th ere was an
amt continues to be valid, unless th e old repealed
p.c •- e repe l •
ressly states that the amendm a ing .Act
eJCP - ent discontinues .
its operation. in
10 .Repealing Act:
A repealing Act is an enactment whi h
. c expressly or
by necessary implication revokes another stat t
u e. When
an Act is r~pealed it must be considered as if th
at law
had never existed
· . . except of (i) transacti·ons
pas t and
closed, (ii) actions ·which were commenced, prosecuted
and concluded _whilst it -was an existing law.
11.Repeal of bylaws:
If the statute under which bylaws are made is
repealed'. those bylaws are impliedly repealed and cease
to be ·valid unless the repealing statute contains some
provision preserving the validity of the bylaw.
l2.Repeal by .Implication:
· A repeal by implication takes place when (a) the
subsequent Act is so inconsistent with an existing prior
· Act that one of the two Acts can alone remain in force
or (b) an Act covers the whole subject of an earlier Act
and is intended to be a substitute for the earlier Act.
Such a repeal is valid on the ground that the laS t
elepression of the legislative must prevail over ilie earlier
one. l'lb.e sub heading - Law of Repugnancy ends wilh this)
 198
~•-g Act and Repealing Act:
is.Amen ......
i.
To e -amending Act does not repeal
f th
all the Provtst
ons
of the old Act, but only some o e provtsions ¾d
h e nee the amending Act may still contain the
essential provisions of a repealed Act.
ii • To e general rule "is that parties are governed by 1aw
in force at the date when a suit, is instituted
. Any
subsequent amendment of the law cannot u-
a,1ect
pending proceedings. However, legislature c
- I 0Uld
always expressly ~rovide that penciu:ig proceedings be
affecte,d by an amendment of the law, ~d it is Valid.
iii. An amended statute remains the same statute by
name as before amendment but the law contained
in_ the amended statute is not the same law as was
contained in the origl.J?.al statute.
14.Distinctlon _between Amendment and Repeal:
i. If the amendment of the existing laws is small, the
Act professes to amend; if it is extensive, it repeals
the law and re-enacts it.
ii. When a Section is added in an Act or a provision Is
added to a Section, the legislatures call the Act as
ar:i amendment: Similarly when a p·r ovision Is
withdrawn _from. a Section, the legislature call the
Act an amendment. When ·a n entire Act or Section
is abrogated and no new Section is added to replace
it, legislat~re call it as repeal.
199
. .. a.. ctlon ~etween Repealed and v
l~J>19µ.- o1d Acts:
,Act ts repealed by legislation whil ·
}.!1 e an Act or its
ons are declared void by Judicial pr
pro~si . onouncement.
oep~al of Perpetual and Temporary Statute .
~p . .
A statute is either perpetual or tempora~. It is
pel'P'etual when there is no time fixed •for its duratl on,
and such a statute remains in force until it is repealed .
A perpetual statute can be repealed; it is perpetual in
'the meaning that it is not abrogated by passage of time
or by non-use.
A statute is temporary when its duration is for a
specilled time only and statute expires on the expiry of
the specified time proVided it is not r_epealed earlier.
17. General Rule of Repeal:
Toe· general rule is "the power of a legislative body
to repeal a law is co-extensive with the power to enact
such' a law". The usual form is to use the words 'is or are
hereby repealed" or 'shall close to have effect' or 'shall be
omitted'. ·
18,Presumption against repeal:
There is a presumption against repeal by implication.
This is on the basis that when an Act is enacted, the
legislature has complete knowledge of the existing laws
on the, same subject-matter, and hence when it does
not provide for a repealing provision, its intention is not
to re'p eal the existing legislation. The burden of proof
 200
that there has been a repeal by implication lies
on th
party asserting it. However, when the proVisions e btful whether this doctitne is a
of th
s10
;::e::fe:~c:r~t::t~~:n;::e:::: :::ar~:g ns o~
D
repeal is inferred by implication. ether ·
19.Recital of non-repeal:
Even a recital in1 a later Act that it is not
. repealing
the earher Act is of no use if the later Act co t .
. . - . . _ n ains a
provis1?n which 1s mconsiste~t with the earlier Act; anct
the earlier Act stands repealed. A repeal by imp1· .
. . 1cation
is equally effective as of express words.
20.Doctrlne of Desuetude: ·
It is a process by which an Act of Parliament/
Legislative loses its validity by disuse for long duration
and without any express· repeal.
Lord Mackay says that for application of desuetude
doctrine, non-use for a very considerable period is
necessary.
The doctrine is of Sc;otish origin. The Acts of Scotish
parliament have become obsolete and repealed by
non-usage/usage to the contrary.
In R. Vs. London Justice:
The Court held that an offender could not be
punished under an expired penal law. though
prosecution began while the Act was alive.
201
. English law does not recocrn, thi
'fbe . . &uSe s doctrtn
e. It
doll PP11cable in I d
IS ot, as no uniform judgments are avanabl n ia
or fl , e.
gtia r
at Forge Co Ltd and others Vs M . .
co;poration, .Pune (1995(3} sc 3 1121
· un1c1pal
The supreme Court held that justice would be
advanced if this doctrine is accepted. Persons in India
will be prqtected from ·P1:1°1shment for violation of a dead
JaW (due to non use , for long duration) .
In cantonment Board Vs. M.P. Road Transport Cor-
poratj.on AIR 1994 SC 2013: _
The Supreme Court held that the conditions
necessary for application of doctrine of desu~tude are
(1) To ·establish that the statute in question has been in
disuse for long and (2) The contrary practice of some
duration has evolved.
C. REVIVAL OF LEGISLATION:
In India/ revival of statutes is governed by Section 7
of the Ge1;1eral Clauses Act, 1897. In any Central Act or
regulation made after the commencement of this Act, it
Is necessary, for the purpose of reviving either wholly or
Partially it must be expressly stated so. (i.e . revived
W holly or Partially)
a ·Section
. 6(~) ~f the Act states that when this Act, or
ny Central Act or Regulation made after th e
colllrnencement ·of this Act repeals any enactment
 202
already made or hereafter to be made, then if a difti
erent
intention does not appear, the repeal shall not re
Vive
anything not in force • or existing at the time at Which
the repeal takes effect. ,

In Ameer-un-Nissa Begum Vs. Mahboob Begum, Ala

1955 SC 352 the Supreme Court, while followtng Section
7 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 held that once a
repealing statute is itself repe_a led, it does not mean
th~ revival of the repealed statute unless the language
of the repealing statute so provides expressly.

MODEL QUESTIONS:

1. Explain Commencement, Repeal and Revival of

Legislation or Statute.

2. When anAct/Stt;itute comes into force?

3. Explain the law r~lattng to repeal and what is the
effect of repeal?
4. · Write slwrt note on: (a) Repeal by implication (b)
Repeal andAme~nt (c) Revival ofstatute.
5. Explains the provisions ofGeneral Clauses Act 1897
· lef
with specific reference to repeal and reviva
statutes.