ISSUE:
Whether the Jaipur Opium Act, 1923, enacted by a resolution of the Council of Ministers, without promulgation or publication, constituted valid law?
Whether the retrospective amendment of the Jaipur Opium Act in 1938 could validate the law retroactively without original compliance with promulgation or publication requirements?
RULE:
A law cannot become operative unless it is promulgated or published in a recognisable manner, ensuring the public can reasonably access and understand it.
In the absence of specific legal provisions or customary rules, the principles of natural justice require that laws affecting rights and liberties must be brought to public notice through adequate publication.