Statutory interpretation of a deeming clause fixes the commencement of section 32(KK) from 30 October 1956.

Section 32(KK) of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1955 was construed in light of the amendment and validation legislation that expressly deemed section 7, inserting section 32(KK), to have come into force on 30 October 1956. The Supreme Court treated that deeming provision as controlling and read the words "this Act" in section 32(KK) as referring to the 1962 Amendment and Validation Act, not the principal Act. It rejected the argument for retrospective operation from 6 March 1955, as that would disregard the legislative mandate and unsettle the relationship between sections 32(KK) and 32(FF). The provision was therefore taken to operate from 30 October 1956.

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Issues: Whether section 32(KK) of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1955 was deemed to have come into force on 30 October 1956 or from the date of commencement of the principal Act.

Analysis: The amendment and validation legislation expressly provided that section 7, which inserted section 32(KK), was to be deemed to have come into force on 30 October 1956. That express deeming provision could not be ignored, and the statute had to be construed as a whole. The words "this Act" in section 32(KK) were therefore read as referring to the 1962 Amendment and Validation Act, not to the principal Act. The Court rejected the construction that would have treated section 32(KK) as retrospectively effective from 6 March 1955, since that would disregard the legislative mandate and distort the relationship between section 32(KK) and section 32(FF).

Conclusion: Section 32(KK) was held to have come into force on 30 October 1956, and not on 6 March 1955; the appellants succeeded.

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