Mandatory adherence to prescribed statutory mode of publication

Where the parent statute explicitly mandates a specific mode of promulgation, such as publication in the Official Gazette under Section 3 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, that statutory mode must be strictly followed. The executive branch lacks authority to substitute or introduce alternative modes of notice, such as uploading documents on an official website or adding endorsements. Delegated legislation is designed strictly to give effect to the policy and purpose of the parent statute and must advance transparency, predictability, and legal certainty in trade regulation. When a parent statute mandates publication in the Gazette, the notification cannot acquire the force of law prior to such publication. Internal declarations or endorsements acknowledging that a document is to be published in the Gazette confirm its incompleteness prior to publication. Executive agencies cannot attribute legal consequences to alternative publication methods or enforce notifications prematurely. Fragmented operation of statutory notifications is legally impermissible, as a notification is born in law only upon official publication. (Viraj Impex Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India & Anr. | 2026 INSC 80)