MODULE – 9 COMMENCEMENTS AND OPERATION OF STATUTES
Commencement of statute: -
'Commencement' of an Act means the day on which the Act comes into force. Unless otherwise
provided, a Central Act comes into operation on the day it receives the Presidential Assent and a State
Act comes into force on the day when the assent of the Governor or the President, is first published in
the Official Gazette of the State.
An Act (or law) does not start working just because it has been written and passed. It must either be
officially activated by the lawmakers themselves or by someone they have given the authority to. Even if
the lawmakers later lose the power to make such laws — for example, because of changes in
government or rules — the person or group they gave the authority to can still bring the Act into force.
What matters is that when the Act was originally created, the lawmakers had the proper authority to
make it.
When a law gives the government the freedom to decide when and how to enforce it, and does not set
clear rules for this, a court cannot force the government to act by issuing a writ of mandamus. However,
if a lot of time has passed since the law was made, the court can step in and order the government to at
least think about whether it should start enforcing the law or not. The court cannot force them to
enforce it, but it can make sure the government considers the matter seriously.
The commencement of An Act is often postponed to some specified future date or to such date as the
appropriate government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. Sometimes different dates
are also appointed for enforcement of different parts of the same Act.
Normally, a provision (a part) of a Bill only becomes active after the whole Bill has gone through the full
law-making process — meaning it has been approved by the legislature, signed off by the necessary
authorities, and officially becomes an Act (law). Only then can the provision actually be used or
enforced. However, sometimes a Bill can be specially written to say that certain parts of it will start
working immediately from the time the Bill is introduced in the legislature; even before the whole Bill is
fully passed and becomes an Act.
Retrospective operation of statute: -
Retrospective operation means a law is used to deal with things that already happened in the past, not
just things that happen after the law is made.
Normally, laws are made to work going forward — from the day they are passed into the future. But
sometimes, the government decides a law should look backward and apply to actions or events that
happened before the law was created. This is called retrospective operation.
General principles of retrospective operation of statutes: - A law usually cannot be applied to the past
to take away rights people already had, unless the law clearly says so or it is obvious from the situation.
Whether a law applies to the past or only to the future depends on what the lawmakers wanted. If the
words of the law are very clear and show that it should apply to the past, then it must be followed that
way. But if the law’s words are not clear, we assume the law only applies to the future, especially if
applying it to the past would take away someone's legal rights, change old agreements, create new
punishments for past actions, or cancel a legal defense that was valid before.
Arjan Singh v. State of Punjab
It is a well-known rule that a law should not be applied to the past unless the lawmakers clearly say so in
the law or it is obviously meant. And even if a law is meant to apply to the past, it should only be applied
as much as the lawmakers intended — not more than that.
Power to make retrospective laws: - The Union Parliament and State Legislatures have the power to
make laws about the topics listed in the Constitution. They can make laws that apply to the future and
also to the past. However, there are some rules they must follow. If the legislature is allowed to make a
law, it can decide whether the law should work from now on or even for things that happened before.
State governments can also make laws that apply to events that happened in the past. Their ability to do
this depends on their current power to make laws, not on what their powers were in the past. But there
is one important limit — under Article 20(1) of the Constitution, no law can punish someone for
something that was not a crime when they did it. In simple words, lawmakers can make laws that work
backward, but they cannot create new punishments for past actions that were legal at the time.
Statutes dealing with substantive rights: - According to Lord Blanesburg, if a new law affects rights that
people already had before the law was made, it should not apply to the past unless the law clearly says
so or it is obviously meant to. Laws that deal with important personal rights are usually meant to work
only for the future. It is a basic rule that such laws should not be applied to past actions. A law that tries
to take away an existing right must clearly say it will apply to the past; otherwise, we assume it only
applies to the future. That’s why it’s very important to look carefully at the exact words used in the law.
Statutes dealing with procedure: - When a law only deals with rules about how things are done
(procedures) and not with people's actual rights, it is usually assumed that the law can apply to both
past and future cases — unless the law clearly says it shouldn't. However, even a procedural law should
not be used for the past if it would create new limits, new duties, or new problems for things that
people already finished before the law was made.
Shyam Sunder v. Ram Kumar
A person does not have a fixed right to follow a certain legal process. They only have the right to handle
their case using the rules that the court is using at that time. If a new law changes the way the court
process works, the person must follow the new rules. They cannot insist on using the old way — they
have to go along with the updated process.
