Gautam Khaitan Vs Union of India & Ors (Delhi High Court)
Power to make Rules or remove difficulties under the provisions of Sections 85 and 86 of the said Act, could only be exercised by the Central Government, once the said Act came into force on the 1st April, 2016, the date expressly stipulated by Parliament in this behalf, and not prior thereto.
A fortiori the Central Government further could not have, prior to the said Act coming into force, altered the date on which the enactment came into force i.e. 1st April, 2016 by exercising the powers available to it under Sections 85 and 86 of the said Act by advancing it to 1st July, 2015.
In the case at hand, consequently at this stage we are prima facie of the considered view that, the official respondents could not have exercised powers granted to it under the provisions of Sections 85 and 86 of the said Act, prior to the enactment itself coming into force, in terms of the provisions of sub-Section (3) of Section 1 of the said Act.
In this view of the matter, we are of the opinion that, the petitioner has made out a good prima facie case for grant of interim relief; and that grave prejudice will be caused to him if the official respondents are not restrained at this stage from proceeding further and taking action against the petitioner, under the provisions of the said Act.
