The repeal of a statute, conferring civil rights or powers, operates to deprive the citizen of all such rights or powers which at the time of the repeal are inchoate, incomplete or unperfected or which have not accrued or become vested.

G.D.Khosla and Tek Chand JJ.

1. The point for consideration in this case is a simple one, namely, whether a sale by an agriculturist to a non-agriculturist effected during the validity of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act is liable to be treated as a mortgage after the repeal of that Act. The matter was considered on a previous occasion by a Division Bench of this Court on a reference made by Kapur J. when the matter came up before Bhandari, C.J., and Dulat J., they differed and it was then placed before Chopra J., and Chopra J. took the view (agreeing with Bhandari C. J.) that even after the repeal of the Alienation of Land Act, the transaction must be treated as a mortgage. The facts in that case were somewhat different and the period of twenty years envisaged by S. 14 of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act had already expired before the repeal of the Act, but certain observations made by Dulat J. in his judgment would apply with equal force to the present case. To resolve this dispute and to have an authoritative opinion of this Court on the point we order that this matter be referred to a Full Bench of three Judges. OPINION Khosla, C.J. This reference to the Full Bench has arisen out of a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. Briefly stated, the point for out consideration is whether an alienation of land made by an agriculturist to an non-agriculturist before 1947 takes effect as a mortgage even after the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, because no sanction to be sale had been given by the Deputy Commissioner as envisaged by S. 14 of the Act.

(1a) The facts are as follows: Risaldar Major Amar Singh was owner of six biswas of land in the district of Ludhiana. He sold this land to Shera, a Muslim non-agriculturist, sometime before 1947. The Punjab Alienation of Land Act was at that time in force and so the sale could not become absolute until it had been sanctioned by the Deputy Commissioner as required by S. 14 of the Act. No such sanction was given, and in 1947 Shera migrated to Pakistan. On 17-5-1948 Sandhur Singh, a collateral of the vendor, Amar Singh, applied to the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, for permission to purchase the land for Rs. 500.00 . Sandhur Singh treated the land as evacuee property. No orders were passed on this application until 4-10-1951 when the Punjab Alienation of Land Act ceased to exist because it was repealed by the Adaptation of Laws (Third Amendment) Order, 1951, published in the Gazette of India on 4-4-1951. The Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, then passed an order rejecting Sandhur Singhs application and holding that the sale in favour of Shera was to be deemed a usufructuary mortgage and the vendor could apply for its redemption. Then on 31-10-1951, before the vendor could make the application suggested by the Deputy Commissioner, the Evacuee Interest (Separation) Act, 1951 , came into force. The vendor, Risaldar Major Amar Singh, applied for the separation of his interest before the Competent Officer appointed under the Act. The Competent Officer on 24-7-1954 ordered that the land be redeemed on Amar Singh deposition Rs. 500.00 within one month. The Custodian was present as a party to these proceedings. The amount was deposited, but one Harchand Singh filed an appeal under S. 14 of the Act. The Appellate Officer held that Harchand Singh had no locus standi but went on to observe that Amar Singh could not redeem the land, because by the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of land Act the sale in favour of Shera had become absolute and as Shera was an evacuee, his total interest vested in the Custodian. He thereupon dismissed Amar Singhs application for redemption. Amar Singh came to this Court with an application under Art. 226 of the Constitution and this application was heard by Bishan Narain J. who took the view that the sale in favour of Shera could not take effect as a mortgage after the repeal of the Act and so Amar Singh had no further interest in the land and