Statutory notice for compulsory purchase completed the option, and the vested purchase right survived repeal.

Timely service of the statutory notice of election to purchase under the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 completed the compulsory purchase process; the election and notice were treated as one integrated statutory step, so no fresh option was required when the licence later expired. The Board's purchase right under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 was held to vest within the statutory scheme and to survive the subsequent amendment and repeal, because the General Clauses Act preserved accrued rights absent contrary intention. The appeal succeeded, the High Court's order was set aside, and the matter was remitted for determination of the remaining issues.

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Issues: (i) Whether the notice issued under section 7 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 satisfied the statutory requirements for compulsory purchase of the undertaking; (ii) Whether the right or option to purchase vested in the Board under section 71 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and survived the subsequent amendment and repeal.

Issue (i): Whether the notice issued under section 7 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 satisfied the statutory requirements for compulsory purchase of the undertaking.

Analysis: Section 7(1) and section 7(4) were read together as a single scheme. The election to purchase and the notice of that election were treated as one integral statutory process, not two separate stages. Once the authority elected to purchase and served the prescribed notice within time, the statutory requirement stood fulfilled. The later expiry of the licence did not require a fresh exercise of the option.

Conclusion: The notice of 8 January 1959 satisfied section 7 and was sufficient to support compulsory purchase.

Issue (ii): Whether the right or option to purchase vested in the Board under section 71 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and survived the subsequent amendment and repeal.

Analysis: The right to purchase was treated as a right arising under the statutory scheme of section 7, whether directly or through the licence required to conform to that provision. Section 71 transferred such rights from the State Government or local authority to the Board and made them exercisable under the same statutory framework. The later repeal did not destroy the accrued right, because section 6 of the General Clauses Act preserved rights already acquired unless a contrary intention appeared. The Court therefore held that the right had vested and remained enforceable on the basis of the law in force when the statutory notice was given.

Conclusion: The Board had the right to purchase, and that right was saved notwithstanding the later amendment and repeal.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the High Court's order was set aside, and the matter was sent back for determination of the issues left open.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute requires election to purchase and notice of that election, timely service of the prescribed notice completes the statutory exercise of the option, and rights so acquired are preserved by the general savings provision unless the repealing law shows a contrary intention.

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