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INTERPRETATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is with profound gratitude and deep reverence that I complete
this project report today, as it would have not been possible for me
to do so without the indispensable guidance of my Professorms.TanmeetKaur, who not only encouraged me to go forward with
this project report but also propagated all my ideologies and
interpretations about the same. I am also grateful to the many
authors whose books and articles I have used as a valuable
SUBMITTED
resourceTO:
for my work. I hope this project meets everyones
PROF. expectations.
TANMEET KAUR
Thank You
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CASES:
INTRODUCTION:
Preamble:
Submitted BY:
Gurmanak Pal Singh
Heading:
Roll no. 18/14
Definition or Interpretation
5th semester Clauses :
section-A
Provisos
Marginal Notes
7
8
9
Illustrations:
10
11
Explanations
11
Schedules
12
Punctuation
12
Conclusion:
13
TABLE OF CASES:
Maharashtra ltd.)
Bengal Immunity Company v. State of Bihar
S.P. Gupta v. President of India
Bhinka v. Charan Singh
M/s. Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories v. Deputy Labour
Commissioner
RamanlalBhailal Patel v. State of Gujrat
Mahalakshmi Oil Mills v. State of Andhra Pradesh
Commissioner of Income-Tax, Madras, v. G.R.
Karthikeyan
T.M. Kanniyan v. Income-tax Officer, Pondicherry
Vishesh Kumar v. Shanti Prasad
State of Punjab v. KailashNath
ShambhuNath v. State of Ajmer
Mahesh Chand Sharma v. Raj Kumari Sharma
Flower Freight Company Limited v. Hammond
M/s. Aphali Pharmaceuticals Limited v. State of
Maharashtra
Aswini Kumar v. Arbinda Bose
Mohammad Shabbir v. STate of Maharashtra
Dadaji v. Sukhdeobabu
INTRODUCTION:
In construing a statutory provision, first and the foremost rule of
construction is the literary construction. The other rules of
construction are called into aid only when the legislative intention
is not clear.
An Aid is a device that helps or assists. For the purpose of
construction or interpretation, the court has to take recourse to
various internal and external aids.
Internal aids means those materials that are available I the
statute itself, though they may not be the part of the enactment.
These internal aids include, long title, preamble, headings,
marginal notes, illustrations, schedules etc. when internal aids are
not adequate then the courts have to take recourse to external
aids. External aids may be parliamentary material, historical
background, reports of a committee or a commission, official
statement, dictionary meanings, foreign decisions etc.
Long Title:
A statute is headed by a long title whose purpose is to give a
general description about the object of the Act. Normally, it begins
with the words An actto. For instance, the long title of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 says: An Act to consolidate and amend
the law relating to criminal procedure, and that of the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988 says: 'An Act to consolidate and amend the
law relating to the prevention of corruption and for matters
connected therewith.'
In the olden days the long title was not considered a part of the
statute
and
was,
therefore,
not
considered
an
aid
while
Under
this
section,
the
State
Government
was
Preamble:
Preamble contains the main objects of the Act and is, therefore, a
part of the statute. On the basis of this reason, it deserves to be
1 AIR 1953 SC 404
2 1964 AC 210 (HL)
Marginal Notes
Marginal notes are those notes which are inserted at the side of
the sections in an Act and express the effect of the sections. These
an also known as side notes. In the olden times help used to be
taken sometimes from the marginal notes when the clear meaning
of an enactment was in doubt. But the modern view of the courts
is that marginal notes should have no role to play while
interpreting a statute. The basis of this view is that the marginal
notes are not parts of statute because they are not inserted by the
legislators nor an they printed In the margin under the instructions
or authority of the legislature. These notes an inserted by the
drafters and many times they may be inaccurate too. However,
there may be exceptional circumstances when marginal notes are
Inserted by the legislatures and, therefore, while interpreting such
an enactment help can be taken from such marginal notes. The
Constitution of India is such a case. The marginal notes were
inserted by the Constituent Assembly and, therefore, while
interpreting the Indian Constitution, it is always permissible to
seek guidance and help from the marginal notes.
In Bengal Immunity Company v. State of Bihar5, the Supreme Court
by a majority, held that the marginal notes to Article 286 of the
Constitution was part of the Constitution and, therefore, it could be
relied on to furnish a clue to the purpose and meaning of that
4 AIR 1996 SC 710
5 AIR 1955 SC 661
6
Heading:
Headings are prefixed to sections or a group or a set of sections.
These headings have been treated by courts as preambles to
those sections or set of sections. Naturally, the rules applicable to
the preamble are followed in case of headings also while
interpreting an enactment. Therefore, if the plain meaning of an
enactment is clear, help from headings cannot be taken by the
courts. However, if more than one conclusion are possible while
interpreting a particular provision, the courts may seek guidance
from the headings to arrive at the true meaning. Ambiguity in the
meaning of a provision can be removed with the aid of the
6 AIR 1982 SC 149
7
word.
The
expression
deemed
to
be
in
the
Mahalakshmi
Oil
Mills
v.
State
of
Andhra
Pradesh 10,
Provisos
The insertion of a proviso to a section has the natural presumption
that, but for the proviso, the enacting part of the section would
have Included the subject matter of the proviso. The general rule
about the interpretation of a proviso is that proviso is not to be
taken absolutely in its strict literal sense but is of necessity limited
to the ambit of the section which it qualifies. A proviso cannot be
construed as enlarging the scopeof an enactment when it can be
fairly and properly construed without attributing to it that effect.
However, if it is clear from the language of the proviso that it had a
more extensive operation than the main provision which it
immediately follows, such a wider effect must be given to it. But if
a reasonable interpretation of the proviso leads to the inference
that it is contradicting the main enactment the proviso should
11 AIR 1993 SC 1671
10
prevail over the main enactment on the principle that it speaks the
last intention of the legislature. Unless the words are clear the
court should not so interpret a proviso as to attribute an intention
to the legislature to give with one hand and take away with the
other. A sincere attempt should be made to reconcile the enacting
clause and in proviso and to avoid repugnancy between the two. In
exceptional cases a proviso may even enact substantive provision
itself. It may always be kept in mind that a proviso must be
considered with relation to the matter to which it exists as a
proviso. It has no independent existence of its own; it is dependent
on the main enactment. It must be borne in mind that with the
repeal of the main enactment the proviso is also impliedly
repealed. It has been held in R. v. Leeds12Prison (Governor), that
the main part of an enactment cannot be so interpreted as to
render its proviso unnecessary and Ineffective.
In
T.M.
Kanniyan
v.
Income-tax
Officer,
Pondicherry 13,
function
as
Legislature
for
the
Union
territory
12 1964
13 AIR 1968 SC 637
11
Illustrations:
Illustrations are sometimes appended to a section of a statute with
a view to illustrate the provision of law explained therein. A very
large number of Indian Arts have illustrations appended to various
sections. They being the show of mind of the legislature are a good
guide to find out the intention of the framers. But an enactment
otherwise dear cannot be given an extended or a restricted
meaning on the basis of illustrations appended therein.
In ShambhuNath v. State of Ajmer16, the Supreme Court while
discussing burden of proof held that Section 106 of the Indian
Evidence Act, 1872 is an exception to Section 101 and that the
14 AIR 1980 SC 892
15 AIR 1989 SC 558
16 AIR 1965 SC 104
12
latter along with its illustration (a) emphasizes the basic rule of
criminal jurisprudence that it is the prosecution's obligation to
prove a case. Illustration (b) to Section 105 was held to be
applicable to Sections 111 and 113 of the Indian Railways Act
1890. The Court emphasised that an illustration does not exhaust
the full content of the section which it illustrates nor does it curtail
or explainedits ambit.
The Supreme Court in Mahesh Chand Sharma v. Raj Kumari
Sharma17, observed that illustration is part of the section and it
helps to elucidate the principle of the section.
Explanations
Explanations are inserted with the purpose of explaining the
meaning of a particular provision and to remove doubts which
might creep up if the explanation had not been inserted. It does
not expand the meaning of the provision to which it is added but
only ties to remove confusion, if any, In the understanding of the
true meaning of the enactment. A large number of Indian Acts
have explanations attached to various sections. For instance,
Section 108 of the Indian Penal Code which defines the word
'abettor'
has
five
explanations
attached
to
it.
Sometimes,
Schedules
Schedules attached to an Act generally deal with as to how claims
or rights under the Act are to be asserted or as to how powers
conferred under the Act are to be exercised. Sometimes, a
14
the
question
was
whether
motor
vehicle
Punctuation
In the ancient times, statutes were passed without punctuations
and naturally, therefore, the courts were not concerned with
looking at punctuations. But in the modern times statutes contain
punctuations. Therefore, whenever a matter comes before the
courts for interpretation, the courts first look at the provision as
they are punctuated and if they feel that there is no ambiguity
while interpreting the punctuated provision, they shall so interpret
it. However, while interpreting the provision in the punctuated
form if the court feels repugnancy or ambiguity, the court shall
read the whole provision without any punctuations and if the
meaning is clear will so interpret It without attaching any
importance whatsoever to the punctuations.
In Aswini Kumar v. Arbinda Bose20, the Supreme Court held that a
punctuation cannot be regarded as a controlling element and
cannot be allowed to control the plain meaning of a text.
In Mohammad Shabbir v. STate of Maharashtra 21, interpretation of
Section 27 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 was in question.
This provision says that whoever 'manufactures for sale, sells,
stocks or exhibits for sale or distributes' a drug without license
would be liable to punishment. The Supreme Court held that mere
stocking of a drug is not an offence and an offence is made out
only when stocking is for sale. There is no comma after the word
'stocks' which means that the words 'stocks or exhibits' are both
qualified by the words 'for sale' used thereafter.
20 AIR 1952 SC 369
21 AIR 1979 SC 564
16
Conclusion:
These are the main sources of internal aid to interpretation. When
the legislative intent of the makers/drafters is not clear, then these
sources of aid to interpretation of statute come into play. The use
of these aids to interpretation ensure that the purpose of the
statute is fulfilled by giving the correct interpretation of the
statute. Apart from these the external aids to interpretation may
be considered for correct interpretation of the statute, which
mainly includes, parliamentary material, historical background,
reports of a committee or a commission, official statement,
dictionary meanings, foreign decisions etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY :
Jain,
Dr.
Ashok
K.,
Interpretation
Of
Statutes,
Ascent
http://www.taxdose.com/internal-aids-in-interpretation/
http://www.caaa.in/Image/Interpretation%20of
%20Statutes.pdf
http://www.lawnotes.in/Interpretation_of_Statutes
18