Report No. 60
7.16. Self contained section preferred.-
We think1 that it would be more convenient to have a self-contained section as to the effect of the expiry of temporary Acts, instead of applying, by reference, the section relating to repeal,-though the latter was the course proposed in the General Clauses Bill, 1897.2-3 Referential legislation leads to unforeseen difficulties, and we think that in the case of an important provision like the one under consideration, such a position should be avoided. We may observe that the provision which we recommend will be the converse of the constitutional provision4 barring a prosecution for an offence under a law not in force at the time when the offence was committed notwithstanding the later enactment of such a law. Under the proposed section it will be permissible to prosecute a person for an offence committed while the law was in force, notwithstanding the later expiry of that law.
1. See also para. 7.20, infra.
2. Section 6(2) of the General Clauses Bill, Gazette of India, 1897 (6th February, 1897), Pt. V, pp. 25-37.
3. See also para. 7.7, supra.
4. Article 20 of the Constitution.
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