Sections 29 and 30 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988: Amendment of 1944 Ordinance, Repeal and Saving
Sections 29 and 30 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 contain important consequential and transitional provisions. Section 29 amended the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944, including provisions connected with attachment of property. Section 30 repealed the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1952 while preserving prior acts and actions through an express saving clause.
Section 29 - Amendment of the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944
Section 29 is an amending provision. It modified specified provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 (Ordinance 38 of 1944) so that the attachment and related machinery under that Ordinance could operate consistently with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Section 29(a): In section 3(1), section 9(1), section 10(a), section 11(1) and section 13(1) of the 1944 Ordinance, references to the "State Government" were expanded to "State Government or, as the case may be, the Central Government".
Section 29(b): In section 10(a) of the Ordinance, the period of "three months" was substituted by "one year".
Section 29(c): The Schedule to the Ordinance was amended. Paragraph 1 was omitted; paragraphs 2 and 4 were expanded to cover specified corporations, authorities, bodies, Government companies and societies; paragraph 4A was substituted to refer to an offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; and paragraph 5 was correspondingly amended to include item 4A.
Meaning and purpose of Section 29
The Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 provides a statutory mechanism for attachment of money or other property believed to have been procured by means of specified scheduled offences. Section 29 aligned that mechanism with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The amendment is significant because the Prevention of Corruption Act itself also assigns functions connected with the 1944 Ordinance to the Special Judge.
The reference in the original amendment to a "Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956" reflects the legislation as it stood when Section 29 was enacted. The Companies Act, 1956 has since been repealed and replaced by the Companies Act, 2013. For current company-law terminology, the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and relevant saving or corresponding provisions should be consulted rather than treating the historical cross-reference as a statement of the present Companies Act.
Section 30 - Repeal and Saving
Section 30(1): The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (2 of 1947) and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1952 (46 of 1952) were repealed.
Section 30(2): Notwithstanding that repeal, and without prejudice to section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken under the repealed Acts is, to the extent that it is not inconsistent with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provision of the 1988 Act.
What does "repeal and saving" mean?
A repeal provision removes the earlier enactments identified by the legislature. A saving provision prevents the repeal from automatically destroying specified legal effects of the repealed law. Section 30 therefore performs both functions: it repealed the earlier central anti-corruption enactments identified in subsection (1), while subsection (2) preserved qualifying acts and actions already taken under them.
Section 30 expressly states that its saving operates without prejudice to section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Section 6 lays down general consequences of repeal unless a different intention appears. Broadly, it protects matters such as the previous operation of the repealed enactment, rights or liabilities acquired or incurred under it, penalties relating to offences committed against it, and qualifying investigations, legal proceedings or remedies.
Relationship with Special Judges and attachment proceedings
The 1944 Ordinance remains relevant to the Prevention of Corruption Act framework because Section 5(6) of the 1988 Act provides that a Special Judge, while trying an offence punishable under the Act, shall exercise the powers and functions exercisable by a District Judge under the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944. Accordingly, Sections 5 and 29 should be read together when considering the statutory relationship between a Special Judge and the attachment mechanism under the Ordinance.
Official legal sources
The current consolidated text of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and related central legislation should be verified through the official India Code portal. The Government's official legislative database should also be consulted for the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 and the General Clauses Act, 1897. Gazette notifications and amending legislation may be checked through the e-Gazette of India.
This article explains the statutory provisions generally. The effect of repeal, saving, attachment or a historical statutory cross-reference in a particular proceeding depends on the relevant facts, dates, amendments and applicable judicial interpretation.