As is obvious, Section 3(1)(b), which exempts premises, as opposed to relationships, from the provisions of the Act where a government company or a public sector undertaking is a tenant, is a fundamental provision of the Act, which operates vis-a-vis each and every provision of the Act and there is no reason why it should not operate even as regards Section 24 of the Act. If any premises are exempt from the application of the Act, there is no reason why such exemption shall not extend to Section 24. A non-obstante clause, usually appended to a provision of law as an opening, is designed to give the enacting part of the provision, in case of a conflict with either other provisions of the same enactment or other enactments, an overriding effect over these latter provisions. It is, by its very nature, premised on a conflict; if there is no conflict between the other provisions contained within the ambit of the non-obstante clause and the enacting part of the clause, there is no question of overriding these other provisions or, in other words, giving effect to the nonobstante clause. Once it is clear that each and every premises, covered by Section 3(1)(b), are excluded from the operation of the Act, there is no possibility of any conflict as between the application of Section 24 and any other provision of the Act to such premises. The provisions of the Act (including Section 24) are uniformly inapplicable to such premises. The non-obstante clause within Section 24 merely implies that as for premises to which the Act applies, whenever there is any conflict between the other provisions of the Act and Section 24, it is the latter that would prevail. There is, thus, no question of Section 24 taking precedence over Section 3(1)(b).”
