Laws do not change just by issuing a press release… Why did the Supreme Court have to make this comment?

New Delhi: In an important decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the press release issued by the government on the cabinet decision regarding change in policy cannot be considered as law. Benefits cannot be claimed on this basis. The Supreme Court said that it will be considered that the new law will come into force when the notification is issued. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Vishwanathan said that issuing a press release by the government does not mean that the existing law or policy has changed from that day. This is a promise by the government, not a change in the law per se.

The court dismissed the plea of ​​Nabha Power Limited, which had sought relief on the basis of the press release issued by PIB on the Cabinet decision on the new legal regime for customs duty exemption for mega power projects.

What did the Supreme Court say?
Although the press release was issued on 1 October 2009, the Finance Ministry issued notifications on 11 and 14 December 2009. The company had argued that it should be considered that the law was amended on the date of the press release, which can be considered as law. Justice Vishwanathan, writing the judgment for the bench, said that in our opinion, the press release did not change/amend/repeal the existing law as on 01.10.2009. This was the announcement of the best proposal which had been approved by the Cabinet. It was to be shaped only after fulfilling the conditions mentioned there. Could the Appellant have believed that the Press Release dated 01.10.2009 set out a new legal arrangement? We don’t think so and we order accordingly. The press release is a summary of the Cabinet decision.

There is no merit in this argument that…
The court said that this (press release) was a promise by the Union of India and not a change in law per se. It said the notifications changing the law were issued on December 11 and 14, 2009, and there is no merit in the argument that the old legal system had lapsed on October 1. Citing an earlier decision of the Supreme Court, the bench said that in that case neither the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs nor the press release was considered the relevant date for the change in law and only the date on which An office memorandum was issued, giving further instructions. The implementation of the new coal distribution policy was considered an event of change in law.