S.V. Gangapurwala, J.

Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, this petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. In the present Writ Petition, the Award in favour of the petitioners is passed on 8th February, 2016 and 8th March, 2016 i.e. after coming into force the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred as 'Act of 2013'). The petitioners filed a reference petition before the competent authority under Section 64 of the said Act, 2013. The same is returned back on the ground that the Award is passed under the old Act.

3. The Act of 2013 came into force on 1st January, 2014. Upon enforcement of the Act of 2013, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 stood repealed. Section 114 (1) of the Act of 2013 specifically repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Sub-Section (2) of Section 114 of the Act of 2013 suggests that the repeal under Sub-Section (1) shall not be held to prejudice or affect general application of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 with regard to the effect of repeals. The mandate of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act is simply to leave the pending pr