Report No. 60

1.20. Whether there should be one Act or two Acts.-

Before making our detailed recommendations for revision of the Act, we consider it necessary to examine a few preliminary questions. One such question relates to the form which the proposed changes should take. The basic question is whether there should be one Interpretation Act, or whether there should be two Interpretation Acts. Need for making a choice in this respect arises because a view has been put-fourth that the present General Clauses Act should continue for the interpretation of the existing Central Acts etc. and a new full-fledged Interpretation Act should be proposed for the interpretation of Central Acts etc. to be enacted hereafter.

In this connection, we may note that in the proposals for revision of the Act, circulated by the earlier Commission1, one suggestion was that there should be two-Acts, the Present Act may be preserved for existing Central Acts etc. and a new Interpretation Act may be enacted to apply to new enactments. But it should be added that the Commission had no opportunity of taking a final decision in the matter; and, in fact, because of its pre-occupation with urgent work, the matter remained undisposed of when the term of the Commission came to a close.

1. Para. 1.2, supra.