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In A.K.Roy's case(supra), this Court was examining the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1978 which was passed by both Houses of Parliament and assented to by the President of India. Section 1(2) of the Amending Act read as under:

"It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may by notification in the official Gazette appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of the Act."

This Court examined the point regarding the interpretation to be put on Section 1(2) of the 44th Amendment Act; the consequences of the failure of the Central Government to issue a notification under Section 1(2) for bringing into force the provisions of 44th Amendment Act within a reasonable time, and, the question, as to whether despite the provisions contained in Section 1(2), the 44th Amendment must be deemed to have come into force on the date on which the President gave his assent to it. Another question examined was as to whether Section 1(2) of the 44th Amendment Act was severable from the rest of the provisions or if that Section was bad for any other reason.

After due consideration, this Court by a majority of 3:2 upheld the constitutional validity of Section 1(2) of the 44th Amendment Act and the power of the Parliament to delegate its authority to an outside agency. It was held that no mandamus could be issued to the Central Government to bring into force the Act. Drawing a distinction between the Constitution standing amended (in our case the enactment of the Act) in accordance with the terms of the Bill assented to by the President and the date of coming into force of the amendment, thus, introduced in the Constitution, it was observed that there was no internal contradiction between the provisions of Article 368(2) and those of Section 1(2) of the 44th Amendment Act. That Article 368(2) lays down a general rule of application to a date from which the Constitution would stand amended in accordance with the Bill assented to by the President whereas Section 1(2) of the amended Act specifies the manner in which the Act or any of its provisions would be brought into force. The distinction was pointed out in the following words:

It was held that the 44th Amendment Act itself prescribes by enacting Section 1(2) a pre-condition which must be satisfied before any of its provisions could come into force. The pre-condition was the issuance of a notification by the Central Government duly published in the Official Gazette, appointing the date from which the Act or any particular provision thereof will come into force. None of the provisions of 44th Amendment Act could come into operation until the Central Government issues a notification as contemplated by Section 1(2). It was held in para 47 as under:

"The Amendment Act may provide that the amendment introduced by it shall come into force immediately upon the President giving his assent to the Bill or it may provide that the amendment shall come into force on a future date. Indeed, no objection can be taken to the constituent body itself appointing a specific future date with effect from which the Amendment Act will come into force; and if that be so, different dates can be appointed by it for bringing into force different provisions of the Amendment Act. The point of the matter is that the Constitution standing amended in accordance with the terms of the Bill and the amendment thus introduced into the Constitution coming into force are two distinct things. Just as a law duly passed by the legislature can have no effect unless it comes or is brought into force, similarly, an amendment of the Constitution can have no effect unless it comes or is brought into force. The fact that the constituent body may itself specify a future date or dates with effect from which the Amendment Act or any of its provisions will come into force shows that there is no antithesis between Article 368(2) of the Constitution and Section 1(2) of the 44th Amendment Act. The expression of legislative or constituent will as regards the date of enforcement of the law or Constitution is an integral part thereof. That is why it is difficult to accept the submission that, contrary to the expression of the constituent will, the amendments introduced by the 44th Amendment Act came into force on April 30, 1979 when the President gave his assent to that Act. The true position is that the amendments introduced by the 44th Amendment Act did not become a part of the Constitution on April 30, 1979. They will acquire that status only when the Central Government brings them into force by issuing a notification under Section 1(2) of the Amendment Act."