In Brief
The Supreme Court held that revisional powers under the repealed Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 cannot be exercised after repeal by the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003 where no proceedings were pending at the time of repeal. The saving clause in Section 61 of the 2003 Act—which expressly preserves only pending proceedings—manifests a contrary legislative intent to exclude application of the Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898. Once an assessment concluded and refund was ordered under the old Act, the tax authorities could not reopen the matter via suo-moto revision exercised years after repeal. The Court rejected the State's attempt to save revisional powers through general repeal principles, finding such interpretation would render subsequent legislative amendments futile and create absurdity.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.