The Central Government, under the powers conferred by a Central Act, issued a notification on 1st April 2025 granting tax exemption to a specified…

According to section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, where by any legislation or regulation a power to issue notifications, orders, rules or bye-laws is conferred, then that power includes the power, exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like sanction and conditions (if any), to add to, amend, vary or rescind any notification, order, rule or bye-law so issued. In the case of Rasid Javed v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court held that under section 21 of the Act, an authority which has the power to issue a notification also has the undoubted power to rescind or modify the notification in the like manner. In the given question, the Central Government had issued a notification on 1st April 2025 granting tax exemption to a specified class of manufacturers for a period of three years. Subsequently, on 1st December 2025, the Government withdrew the exemption by issuing another notification. Since, the Government had the power to issue the original notification, it also had the power to rescind or modify the same under section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. The Central Government, having the power to issue the original notification, inherently possesses the power to rescind it even before the expiry of the stated 3 year period, particularly when the withdrawal is necessitated by misuse of the exemption. Therefore, the withdrawal of the exemption before the expiry of three years is valid in law, and the contention of the manufacturer that the notification could not be rescinded before completion of three years is not sustainable.