Facts in the Case
- A Prohibition Act was enacted by the State Legislature.
- The Act made the sale, possession, transportation, and consumption of liquor a punishable offence.
- Mr. X committed an offence under this Act while it was in force.
- Later, the Prohibition Act was repealed by the same State Legislature.
- After the repeal, Mr. X was chargesheeted for the offence committed earlier.
Issues in the Case
- Can Mr. X be prosecuted for an offence under a statute that has been repealed before the chargesheet was filed, even though the offence occurred while the Act was still in force?
Principles Applied
- Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897:
- Repeal does not affect prior liabilities or offences unless expressly stated.
- Allows prosecution to continue for offences committed while the Act was operative.
- Retrospective Operation of Criminal Law:
- Criminal laws are generally prospective, and repeal does not erase past offences unless expressly stated.
- Legal Fiction and Saving of Rights:
- The law presumes that rights and liabilities already incurred under a repealed statute remain enforceable unless the repealing law indicates otherwise.
- Judicial Precedents:
- State of Punjab v. Mohar Singh Pratap Singh, AIR 1955 SC 84: Offences committed under a repealed statute are still prosecutable if liability was incurred prior to repeal.
- Keshavan Madhava Menon v. State of Bombay, AIR 1951 SC 128: Liability must exist at the time of repeal to enable post-repeal prosecution.
Judgment
- Mr. X committed the offence when the law was in force, and thus incurred liability at that time.
- Under Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, the repeal of the Act does not extinguish liability for prior acts.
- Unless the repealing statute specifically provides that past offences will not be prosecuted, the liability remains intact.
- Therefore, filing a chargesheet after the repeal is legal, and Mr. X can be prosecuted for the offence.