Saving clauses preserve prosecutions for offences committed before expiry of a temporary law under Article 369

Expiry of a temporary law does not automatically end liability for offences committed while it was in force where the statute or Constitution contains an express saving for acts done or omitted before expiry. Article 369 was read as preserving the effect of laws made under it in respect of matters already completed, and the saving in Section 1(3) of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act likewise protected pending and uncompleted prosecutions. On that basis, prosecutions for contravention of the Act and the Cotton Textiles (Control of Movement) Order could continue after the Act had expired, and the references were not accepted.

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Issues: Whether prosecutions for contravention of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946, and the Cotton Textiles (Control of Movement) Order, 1948, could continue after the expiry of the temporary Act in view of Article 369 of the Constitution of India and the saving clause in Section 1(3) of the Act.

Analysis: The expiry of a temporary law does not necessarily extinguish liability for acts committed during its operation where the governing constitutional or statutory provision contains an express saving for things done or omitted to be done before expiry. Article 369 conferred temporary legislative power on Parliament and itself provided that laws made under it would cease after five years only to the extent of the incompetency, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before expiration. The phrase was read broadly to include pending and uncompleted prosecutions, so the savings in the Act and in Article 369 preserved the operation of the law for offences already committed.

Conclusion: The prosecutions were maintainable after expiry of the Act, and the references were not accepted.

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