Section 57 of Delhi Rent Control Act 1958 - Repeal and Saving
Section 57 is the repeal and saving provision of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958. It repeals the Delhi and Ajmer Rent Control Act, 1952 so far as that earlier law applied to Delhi, while preserving the legal framework for specified suits, proceedings and appeals that arose under the repealed Act.
Updated: 24 September 2026
Text of Section 57 - Repeal and Saving
(1) The Delhi and Ajmer Rent Control Act, 1952 (38 of 1952), in so far as it is applicable to the Union territory of Delhi, is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, all suits and other proceedings under the said Act pending, at the commencement of this Act, before any court or other authority shall be continued and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the said Act, as if the said Act had continued in force and this Act had not been passed:
Provided that in any such suit or proceeding for the fixation of standard rent or for the eviction of a tenant from any premises to which section 54 does not apply, the court or other authority shall have regard to the provisions of this Act:
Provided further that the provisions for appeal under the said Act shall continue in force in respect of suits and proceedings disposed of thereunder.
Meaning and effect of Section 57
A repeal provision ends the operation of an earlier enactment to the extent stated in the new law. A saving provision preserves specified rights, proceedings, remedies or legal consequences despite that repeal. Section 57 performs both functions.
Sub-section (1) repeals the Delhi and Ajmer Rent Control Act, 1952 only in so far as that Act applied to the Union territory of Delhi. Sub-section (2) then protects proceedings that were already pending when the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 commenced. Those pending matters are generally to continue under the 1952 Act as though it had remained in force.
Pending suits and proceedings under the 1952 Act
The opening part of Section 57(2) uses a non-obstante expression, namely "notwithstanding such repeal". Its purpose in this provision is to ensure that the repeal itself does not terminate pending suits or other proceedings instituted under the earlier Act. Such proceedings are to be continued and disposed of according to the earlier law, subject to the provisos contained in Section 57.
Standard rent and eviction proceedings
The first proviso creates an important qualification. In a pending proceeding concerning fixation of standard rent or eviction of a tenant from premises to which Section 54 does not apply, the court or other authority must have regard to the provisions of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958. Accordingly, the saving of the old proceeding does not make the 1958 Act irrelevant to the categories expressly covered by this proviso.
Appeals saved by Section 57
The second proviso preserves the appeal provisions of the Delhi and Ajmer Rent Control Act, 1952 for suits and proceedings disposed of under that Act. This ensures continuity of the appellate remedy for matters governed by the statutory saving.
Why Section 57 remains important
Section 57 is principally a transitional provision. It identifies how matters originating under the repealed 1952 rent-control law are to be handled after commencement of the 1958 Act. When an older proceeding is involved, the date and nature of the proceeding, the applicable saving clause, the first proviso concerning standard rent or eviction, and the preserved appeal provisions may all require examination.