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The territories comprised in Goa, Daman and Diu under the Portuguese rule were annexed by the Government of India by conquest on December 20, 1961. By virtue of Article I (3)

(c) of the Constitution of India, these territories became a part of India. For the purpose of making provision for the administration of the said A territories, the President of India, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Article 123 (1) of the Constitution, promulgated on March 5, 1962 ordinance No. 2 of 1962, called the Goa, Daman and Diu (Administration) ordinance. On March 27, 1962 the Indian Parliament enacted the Goa, Daman and Diu (Administration) Act, 1 of 1962, replacing the aforesaid ordinance with effect from March 5, 1962. On the same date, the Parliament enacted the Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Act, 1962 whereby Goa, Daman and Diu were added as Entry 5 in Part II of the First Schedule to the Constitution, and as clause (d) in Article 240 of the Constitution, with retrospective effect from December 20, 1961. Thus, Goa, Daman and Diu became a part of the Union Territories of India with effect from the date of their annexation by conquest.

within the meaning of section 4(2) of the Regulation. Since those proceedings were instituted in accordance with the Portuguese mining laws on the basis of the right possessed by respondent 1 to obtain mining concessions, he was entitled to continue the proceedings as if the Regulations had not been passed, that is to say, as if the Portuguese mining laws continued to be in force in the conquered territory of Goa.
Before considering the merits of the respective contentions bearing on the effect of the provisions of the Administration Act and the Regulation, it is necessary to reiterate a well-settled legal position that when a new territory is acquired in any manner-be it by conquest, annexation or cession following upon a treaty-the new "sovereign" is not bound by the rights which the residents of the conquered territory had against their sovereign or by the obligations of the old sovereign towards his subjects. The rights of the residents of a territory against their state or sovereign come to an end with the conquest, annexation or cession of that territory and do not pass on to the new environment. The inhabitants of the acquired territory bring with them no rights which they can enforce against the new state of which they become inhabitants. The new state is not required, by any positive assertion or declaration, to repudiate its obligation by disowning such rights. The new state may recognise the old rights by re-granting them which, in the majority of cases, would be a matter of contract or of executive action; or, alternatively, the recognition of old rights may be made by an appropriate statutory provision whereby rights which were in force immediately before an appointed date are saved. Whether the new state has accepted new obligations by recognising old rights, is a question of fact depending upon whether one or the other course has been adopted by it. And, whether it is alleged that old rights are saved by a statutory provision, it becomes necessary to determine the kind of rights which are saved and the extent to which they are saved.
The rule of international law on which the several Privy Council decisions as to the effect of conquest or cession on the private rights of the inhabitants of the conquered or ceded territory are founded has become a part of the common law of this country. (page 5 90). We must accordingly proceed on the basis that the right, if any, which respondent 1 had against the Portuguese Government to obtain a mineral concession or a mining lease came to an end with the conquest of Goa by the Government of India on December 20, 1961. In the absence of any allegation that the right was re-granted either by a private agreement or by executive fiat, the sole question for our consideration is whether the Government of India is under an obligation to recognise the right, if any, of respondent 1 by reason of a statutory provision which saves that right.

The true position then is that in cases of acquisition of a territory by conquest, rights which had accrued under the old laws do not survive and cannot be enforced against the new Government unless it chooses to recognise those rights. In order to recognise the old rights, it is not necessary for the new Government to continue the old laws under which those rights had accrued because, old rights can be recognised without continuing the old laws as, for example, by contract or executive action. On the one hand, old rights can be recognised by the new Government without. continuing the old laws; on the other, the mere continuance of old laws does not imply the recognition of old rights which had accrued under those laws. Something more than the continuance of old laws is necessary in order to support the claim that old rights have been recognised by the new Government. That 'something more' can be found in a statutory provision whereby rights which had already accrued under the old laws are saved. In so far as continuance of old laws is concerned, as a general rule, they continue in operation after the conquest, which means that the new Government is at liberty not to adopt them at all or to adopt them without a break in their continuity or else to adopt them from a date subsequent to the date of conquest.