Statutory re-enactment carries over references to repealed State provisions, preserving the sales tax exemption on the goods.

Section 8(1) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies where a former State enactment is repealed and its subject-matter is re-enacted by a Central Act, unless a contrary intention appears. The expression "enactment" is broad enough to include an Act or provision within an Act, so a reference in another statute to the repealed State provision is construed as a reference to the corresponding re-enacted provision. On that interpretation, the sales tax exemption tied to goods liable to duty under the former Punjab Excise Act extended to the corresponding duty under the Central Act, and the levy of sales tax could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether section 8 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies where a State enactment is repealed and the corresponding provision is re-enacted by a Central Act, so that a reference in another enactment to the repealed State provision is to be construed as a reference to the new Central provision, and the assessee remains entitled to the sales tax exemption.

Analysis: Section 8(1) applies when any Central Act or Regulation repeals and re-enacts a former enactment, unless a different intention appears. The expression "enactment" in section 3(19) includes any Act or provision contained in an Act, and there is nothing in section 8 to confine "former enactment" to a Central enactment alone. A narrow construction excluding State enactments would defeat the statutory purpose and would not be justified by the language used. Since the Central Act re-enacted the subject-matter earlier dealt with under the Punjab Excise Act, the reference in entry 37 of Schedule B to goods on which duty is leviable under the Punjab Excise Act had to be read as extending to the corresponding duty under the Central Act.

Conclusion: Section 8 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies, and the assessee was entitled to exemption from sales tax on the alcoholic preparations.

Final Conclusion: The levy of sales tax on the goods in question could not be sustained, and the appeal by the State was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute re-enacts, with or without modification, a provision formerly contained in a State enactment, a reference in another enactment to the repealed provision is, in the absence of a contrary intention, to be construed as a reference to the re-enacted provision.

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