Omitted subordinate rules cannot sustain excise proceedings without an express saving clause, and Section 6 does not apply.

Proceedings initiated under omitted Central Excise Rules, 1944 could not be continued or sustained after the rules ceased to operate, because subordinate legislation does not retain force in the absence of an express saving provision. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 was held inapplicable to the omission of subordinate rules, so it did not preserve the pending excise action. The Court also declined to rely on Section 11A of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 to validate the proceedings. The impugned demand was therefore without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether proceedings and consequential demand for excise duty could survive after the omission of the rules under which they were initiated, and whether Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 saved such proceedings.

Analysis: The proceedings were initiated and carried forward under the Central Excise Rules, 1944, but by the time the matter culminated in the impugned order, the relevant rules had been omitted. The Court held that rules are subordinate legislation and do not acquire the status of the parent enactment merely because they are given effect for purposes of construction or obligation. In the absence of a specific saving provision, the omission of a rule prevents fresh initiation or continuation of proceedings under that omitted rule. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 was held inapplicable to the omission of subordinate rules. The Court therefore declined to rely on Section 11A of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 to sustain the action.

Conclusion: The impugned proceedings were without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed, with the result that the writ petitions succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: An action initiated under an omitted subordinate rule cannot be continued or sustained after the omission unless there is an express saving provision, and Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 does not apply to the omission of rules.

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