TMI Blog1959 (9) TMI 62X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t already undergone plus a fine of ₹ 500. On revision, the High Court confirmed both the conviction and the sentence. On an application filed for special leave, this Court gave the same, but limited it to the question of sentence. Learned Counsel raised before us the following contentions: (1) s. 6(1-A) of the Act was repealed, and, therefore, neither the conviction nor the sentence thereunder could be sustained; and (2) if s. 6(1-A) of the Act was repealed, this Court in limiting the appeal to the question of sentence only went wrong, for, if that section was not on the statute book at the time of the alleged commission of the offence, not only the sentence but also the conviction thereunder would be bad. Both the contentions raised turn upon the same point. The different steps in the argument may be stated thus: In the Act XVII of 1933, as it originally stood, there was no specific provision making the possession of wireless transmitter an offence. By the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Amendment) Act, 1949 (XXXI of 1949) (hereinafter called the 1949 Act ), s. 6(1-A) was inserted in the Act, whereunder the possession of a wireless transmitter was constituted a separate offenc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the provisions of section 3 shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both. REPEALING AND AMENDING ACT, 1952. S. 2: The enactments specified in the First Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the fourth column thereof The First Schedule Year No. Short title Extent of repeal (1) (2) (3) (4) 1949 XXXI The Indian Wireless Telegraphy The whole (Amendment) Act, 1949. S. 4: The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to; * * * The substance of the aforesaid provisions may be stated thus: The Act of 1949 inserted s. 6 (1 -A) in the Act of 1933. The 1949 Act was repealed by the 1952 Act, but the latter Act saved the operation of other enactments in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to. The first question that arises for consideration is whether the amendments inserted by the 1949 Act in the 1933 Act were saved by reason of s. 4 of the 1952 Act. The general object of a repealing and amending Act is stated in Halsbury's L ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re, by reference, incorporated in another and the earlier statute is afterwards repealed the provisions so in- corporated obviously continue in force so far as they form part of the second enactment. So too, in Craies on Statute Law, 3rd Edition, the sama idea is expressed in the following words, at p. 349: Sometimes an Act of Parliament, instead of expressly repeating the words of a section contained in a former Act, merely refers to it, and by relation applies its provisions to some new state of things created by the subsequent Act. In such a case the is rule of construction is that where a statute is incorporated by reference into a second statute, the repeal of the first statute by a third does not affect the second . The Judicial Committee in Secretary of State for India in Council v. Hindusthan Co-operative Insurance Society, Ltd. (L.R. 58 I.A. 259.) endorsed the said principle and restated the same, at p. 267, thus: This doctrine finds expression in a common-form section which regularly appears in the amending and repealing Acts which are passed from time to time in India. The section runs: The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... text , in its dictionary meaning, means subject or theme . When an enactment amends the text of another, it amends the subject or theme of it, though sometimes it may expunge unnecessary words without altering the subject. We must, therefore, hold that the word text is comprehensive enough to take in the subject as well as the terminology used in a statute. Another escape from the operation of s. 6-A of the General Clauses Act is sought to be effected on the basis of the words unless a different intention appears . The repealing Act does not indicate any intention different from that envisaged by the said section. Indeed, the object of the said Act is not to give it any legislative effect but to excise dead matter from the statute book. The learned Counsel placed before us the historical background of the amending Act with a view to establish that the intention of the legislature in passing the said Act was to expurgate s. 6 (1 -A) from the statute as it was redundant and unnecessary. It is said that the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (XIII of 1885) provided for the offence covered by s. 6 (1-A), and, therefore, the legislature though, by the Act of 1948, inserted the said ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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