EFFECTS OF REPEALING OF STATUTES
Society is never static but always dynamic and change is the supreme law of human society. To keep pace with this trend, every legislature responds to changing social, political, economic and other conditions through the instrumentality of enacting new laws or repealing the existing laws.
Meaning of repeal Repeal :
is the abrogation or destruction of a law by legislative enactment. A substitution of one legal provision by another is in fact a repeal. Accordingly, where the schedule to an Act is substituted by a new schedule, sec. 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 would apply and the rights and liabilities incurred under the repealed schedule would be enforceable even after the repeal. A new law re-enacting the provisions of an earlier enactment, with or without modifications, nonetheless repeals that enactment, either expressly or by implication.There is no difference at all between a case where the legislature says that a particular section will stand amended in a particular way and a case where it says that the section stands repealed and its place will be taken by a new section if the new section is the same as the amended section. Sec. 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 is applicable whether it is repeal or amendment and there is no reason for giving any different effect to these two methods which achieve the same result. But the suspension of a statute for a limited time is not repeal. Repeal may be either total or partial. It is a total repeal when a statute is abrogated in its entirety and partial when there is abrogation or modification of a provision of a statute only.
Consequence of Repeal of Statute
Under the common law rule the normal presumption of repealing a statute without a saving clause is to obliterate it from the statute-book as completely as if it had never been enacted except as to transactions past and closed. As a result, no proceeding under the repealed statute could be commenced or continued after the repeal and all incipient rights and all causes of action that might have arisen under the repealed statute came to an end with the repeal. But this presumption has been rebutted and the necessity of inserting a saving clause in each and every repealing statute has been rendered unnecessary for sec. 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. This section provides as follows:
Section 6: Effect of Repeal
Where this Act, or any Act of Parliament or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, repeals any enactment hitherto made or hereafter to be made, then, unless a different intention appears, the repeal shall not- (a) revive anything not in force or existing at the time at which the repeal takes effect; or
(b) affect the previous operation of any enactment so repealed or anything duly done or suffered there under; or
(c) affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any enactment so repealed; or
(d) after any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against any enactment so repealed; or
(e) affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment as aforesaid; and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if the repealing Act or Regulation had not been passed.
Repeals have prospective Operation
only It is well settled that parliament being the supreme legislative authority subject to the constitutional limitations under Article 65 has the plenary power to pass any law on any subject both prospectively and retrospectively. But in the absence of any express or implied provision in the Act to indicate that the Act will have retrospective effect, the Act would apply prospectively.Whenever an Act, whether amending or repealing, is enacted, it would have operation prospective in nature unless a contrary intention can be ascertained from the consideration of all the relevant provisions of the repealing law. But where the intention as to being retrospective is doubtful the statute would be construed as prospective only. However, in determining the effects of repeal, a distinction is drawn between statute dealing with substantive rights and statute dealing with procedure only.