Repeal of Textual-Amendment Acts; Revival of Repealed Statutes; Reference to Repealed Enactments (Sections 6A, 7, 8)
# Sections 6A, 7 and 8 — Repeal-Related Rules
## Section 6A — Repeal of an Act that made a textual amendment
Issue: Sometimes Act A is passed only to amend Act B (e.g., to insert/omit/substitute words in Act B). If Act A is later repealed, do those amendments to Act B vanish?
Answer: No. Where any Central Act or Regulation repeals another Act by which textual amendments were made (express omission, insertion or substitution), the repeal shall not affect the continuance of the amendments already made and in operation at the time of repeal.
Illustration: Suppose Companies Act, 1956 had inserted a clause into the SEBI Act. Even after the Companies Act, 1956 is itself repealed, the inserted clause in the SEBI Act continues unaffected.
## Section 7 — Revival of repealed enactments
To revive a repealed statute, the new legislation must clearly state the intention to revive it. Mere repeal of a repealing Act does not automatically revive the originally repealed Act.
This aligns with Section 6(a) (repeal does not revive anything not in force at the time of repeal).
## Section 8 — Construction of references to repealed enactments
Where an Act is repealed and re-enacted (with or without modification), any reference in another enactment or instrument to a provision of the repealed Act shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding provision of the re-enacted Act, unless a contrary intention appears.
### Classic illustration
Section 115JB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (MAT — Minimum Alternate Tax) refers to provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 for computation of book profits. When Companies Act, 1956 was repealed by Companies Act, 2013, Section 115JB was not amended to update the reference.
➡ Applying Section 8, book profits under Section 115JB are now computed by reference to the Companies Act, 2013 (the re-enacted statute).
### Important caveat
If a later Act merely refers to a former Act 'as a description' (incorporation by reference), all subsequent amendments and repeals will flow through automatically — unless the parent statute saves the original reference.
Worked example
### Example 1
Q: Act P amended Section 10 of Act Q by inserting a new sub-clause. Act P is later repealed. Does the inserted sub-clause in Act Q disappear?
A: No. By virtue of Section 6A, the repeal of Act P does not affect the continued existence of the amendment already made to Act Q.
### Example 2
Q: A 1990 Act repealed an old 1950 Act. In 2020, the 1990 Act is itself repealed. Is the 1950 Act automatically revived?
A: No. Under Section 7, revival requires an express statement to that effect in the new legislation. Repeal of a repealing Act does not, by itself, revive the original.
### Example 3
Q: Section 115JB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 still mentions the Companies Act, 1956. Should we calculate book profits under the 1956 Act or the 2013 Act?
A: Under Section 8 of the General Clauses Act, references to a repealed-and-re-enacted statute are read as references to the new Act. Therefore, book profits are calculated as per the Companies Act, 2013.
⚠️ Common exam mistakes
Believing that repealing an amending Act undoes its earlier amendments. Section 6A protects those textual changes.
Assuming the original Act springs back to life when the repealing Act is itself repealed. Express revival is mandatory under Section 7.
Ignoring Section 8 and continuing to apply a repealed statute simply because a cross-reference was never updated.
Bare-Act text Sections 6A, 7 and 8 · The General Clauses Act, 1897 · click to expand
Section 6A: Where any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act repeals any enactment by which the text of any Central Act or Regulation was amended by the express omission, insertion or substitution of any matter, then, unless a different intention appears, the repeal shall not affect the continuance of any such amendment made by the enactment so repealed and in operation at the time of such repeal.
Section 7: In any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, it shall be necessary, for the purpose of reviving, either wholly or partially, any enactment wholly or partially repealed, expressly to state that purpose.
Section 8: Where this Act, or any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of a former enactment, then references in any other enactment or in any instrument to the provision so repealed shall, unless a different intention appears, be construed as references to the provision so re-enacted.