Precedents and judicial pronouncements

Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss how are the precedents used to interpret a statute?

Precedents and judicial pronouncements:

A principle of law which has become settled by a series of decisions is generally binding on the courts and should be followed in similar cases. This is based on expediency and public policy.

“Per incuriam” are those decisions given in ignorance or forgetfulness of some statutory provisions or authority binding on the Court concerned, or a statement of law caused by inadvertence or conclusion that has been arrived at without application of mind or proceeded without any reasons so that in such a case some part of the decision or some step in the reasoning on which it is based, is found, on that account to be demonstrably wrong.

Judgments:

Ramkrishna Bus Transport and Ors v. State of Gujarat and Ors 1995 (1) G.L.H 520

While dealing with the provision of Sec. 207 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, Hon’ble Mr. Justice C.K. Thakkar in the case of Ramkrishna Bus Transport and Ors v. State of Gujarat and Ors, 866 at Para. 43 held that, whether a particular provision is mandatory or directory depends upon intention of the Legislature and not only upon the language in which it is used. The meaning and intention of the Legislature must be treated as decisive and they are to be ascertained not only form the phraseology used but also by considering the nature, design and consequences which would flow from construing it one way or the other. It is also true that in certain circumstances, the expression ‘may’ can be construed as ‘shall’ or vice versa. At the same time, however, it cannot be ignored that ordinarily ‘may’ should read as ‘may’ which is permissive and not obligatory. For the purpose of giving effect to the clear intention of the legislature, ‘may’ can be read as ‘shall’ or ‘must’.

Mahadeolal Kanodia v. Administrator General of W.B. AIR 1960 SC 936

In Mahadeolal Kanodia v. Administrator General of W.B., the Supreme Court was concerned with the retrospectivity of law passed by the West Bengal Legislature concerning the rights of tenants and in para 8 of the judgment the Supreme Court held that: “8. The principles that have to be applied for interpretation of statutory provisions of this nature are well established. The first of these is that statutory provisions creating substantive rights or taking away substantive rights are ordinarily prospective; they are retrospective only if by express words or by necessary implication...”

Amireddi Raja Gopala Rao v. Amireddi Sitharamamma AIR 1965 SC 1970 : (1965) 3 SCR 122

In Amireddi Raja Gopala Rao v. Amireddi Sitharamamma, a Constitution bench was concerned with the issue as to whether the rights of maintenance of illegitimate sons of a Sudra as available under the Mitakshara School of Hindu law were affected by introduction of Sections 4, 21 and 22 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. The Court held that they were not, and observed in para 7 as follows: “7. ... a statute should be interpreted, if possible, so as to respect vested rights, and if the words are open to another construction, such a construction should never be adopted.”

ITO v. Induprasad Devshanker Bhatt AIR 1969 SC 778

In this case the Supreme Court, in context of a provision of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was concerned with the issue as to whether the Income Tax Officer could reopen the assessment under Sections 297(2)(d)(ii) and 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, although the right to reopen was barred by that time under the earlier Income Tax Act, 1922. The Supreme Court held that the same was impermissible and observed in para 5 as follows: “5. ... The reason is that such a construction of Section 297(2)(d)(ii) would be tantamount to giving of retrospective operation to that section which is not warranted either by the express language of the section or by necessary implication. The principle is based on the well-known rule of interpretation that unless the terms of the statute expressly so provide or unless there is necessary implication, retrospective operation should not be given to the statute so as to affect, alter or destroy any right already acquired or to revive any remedy already lost be efflux of time.”

Sakshi v. Union of Inaia & Others, (2004) 5 SCC 518

In this case the Supreme Court has observed that: “23. Stare decisis is a well-known doctrine in legal jurisprudence. The doctrine of stare decisis, meaning to stand by decided cases, rests upon the principle that law by which men are governed should be fixed, definite and known, and that, when the law is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction authorized to construe it, such declaration, in absence of palpable mistake or error, is itself evidence of the law until changed by competent authority. It requires that rules of law when clearly announced and established by a court of last resort should not be lightly disregarded and set aside but should be adhered to and followed. What is precludes is that where a principle of law has become established by a series of decisions, it is binding on the courts and should be followed in similar cases. It is a wholesome doctrine which gives certainty to law and guides the people to mould their affairs in future.

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Dictionaries and text books

Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss how are the dictionaries and text books used to interpret a statute?

Dictionaries and text books:

The meaning of particular words in an Indian statute is to be found not so much in a strict etymological propriety of language nor even in popular sense, as in the subject or occasion on which they used. But it is well known that words are generally used in their ordinary sense and therefore, though dictionaries are not to be taken as authoritative in regard to the meanings of the words used in statutes, they may be consulted.

The use of dictionaries is limited to circumstances where the judges and Counsels use different words. In such cases the court may make use of standard authors and well known authoritative dictionaries. e.g. Merriam Webster Dictionary

Text books may also be refereed to for assistance in finding out the true construction of a statute. e.g. Transfer of Property Act, 1882 Commentary by Mulla.

Judgment:

Voltas Ltd. v. Rolta India Ltd. (2014) 4 SCC 516

In Voltas Ltd. v. Rolta India Ltd., the Supreme Court has held that: “Dictionaries can hardly be taken as authoritative exponents of the meanings of the words used in legislative enactments for the plainest words may be controlled by a reference to the context. Similarly, Lexicons would only define an expression in terms of a decision given by a Court of Law, and unless this decision was given under the Act in which the expression is used "it involves" in the words of Ram Lal,J. in Frim Karam Narain Daulat Ram v. Colkart Bros., A.I.R. 1946 Lah (F.B) pp.116, 128" a dangerous method of interpretation."

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Statement of objects and reasons

Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss how are the statements of objects and reasons of an enactment used to interpret a statute?

Statement of objects and reasons:

The statements of objects and reasons cannot be used as an aid to construction. The statements of object and reason are not admissible as an aid to construction of a statute. Objects and reasons of a statute are to be looked into as an external aid to find out the legislative intent, only when the language is obscure or ambiguous.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons, seeks only to explain what reasons induced the mover to introduce the bill in the House and what objects he sought to achieve. But those objects and reasons may or may not correspond to the objective which the majority of members had in view when they passed it into law. The Bill may have undergone radical changes during its passage through the House or Houses, and there is no guarantee that the reasons which led to its introduction and the objects thereby sought to be achieved have remained the same throughout till the Bill emerges from the House as an Act of the Legislature, for they do not form part of the Bill and are not voted upon by the members. The Statements of Objects and Reasons appended to the Bill should be ruled out as an aid to the construction of a statute.

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Parliamentary History – Facts and circumstances

Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss how is the history of an enactment used to interpret a statute?

Parliamentary History – Facts and circumstances:

The surrounding circumstances and situations which led to the passing of the Act can be considered for the purpose of construing a statute. The Court has now veered to the view that legislative history within circumspect limits may be consulted by Courts in resolving ambiguities.

It has already been noticed that the Court is entitled to take into account “such external or historical facts as may be necessary to understand the subject-matter of the statute”, or to have regard to “the surrounding circumstances” which existed at the time of passing of the statute. Like any other external aid, the inferences from historical facts and surrounding circumstances must give way to the clear language employed in the enactment itself.

In order to arrive at the intention of the legislature, the state of law and judicial decisions antecedent to and at the time the statute was passed are material matters to be considered. Evidence of matters relating to such surrounding circumstances and historical investigation of which judicial note can be taken by court, including reports of select committees and statements of objects and reasons, can be resorted to for ascertaining such antecedent law and for determining the intention of the legislature.

Moreover, plain words in the statute cannot be limited by any considerations of policy. An erroneous assumption by the legislature as to the state of the law has no effect and would not become a substantive enactment. In the construction of a statute the worst person to construe it is the person who is responsible for its drafting. Courts sometimes make a distinction between legislative debates and reports of committees and treat the latter as a more reliable or satisfactory source of assistance. The speeches made by the members of the House in the course of the debate are not admissible as external aids to the interpretation of statutory provisions.

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External aids used for interpretation of statute

Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss about external aids used to interpret a statute.

External aids used for interpretation of statute:

Other than the internal aid to interpretation which are part of a statute itself there are other aids which are not part of the statute. These are known as external aid to interpretation. The court can consider recourse outside the Act. Recourse to external aid is justified only to well-recognized limits.

Where the words of an Act are clear and unambiguous, no resource to extrinsic matter, even if it consists of the sources of the codification, is permissible. But where it is not so, the Court can consider, apart from the internal aids, the prior events leading up to the introduction of the Bill, and subsequent events from the time of its introduction until its final enactment like the legislation, history of the Bill, Select Committee reports, etc.

The history of legislation, the enactments which are repealed, the parliamentary debates, dictionary commentaries etc. are the external aids to construction. It is important to point out here that the legislature adopts the device of making a statute by “reference” and by “incorporation”. When the statute is incorporated in another statue by the legislature, the incorporated statute or statute referred to therein is external aid for interpreting the statute in question.

There has been a controversy in India regarding the use of parliamentary debates for interpreting the Constitution. It is now settled that the court can always refer to the debates in the legislature while interpreting the statute to know the intention if there is a doubt about the provision. More often than not, a provision is introduced in the Bill and after some debate either it is altered or modified or amended before finally it receives the assent of the President.

Where the Legislature has not chosen to define the expression the court of law have, therefore, to fall back upon other aids for finding the intention of the Legislature; for example by reference to the context and object and purpose of the legislative measure in question. The court may further have resort to dictionaries and judicial interpretation of this award as used in other statutes; but it cannot be denied that these methods are not as satisfactory as a precise and clear legislative definition in the statute itself.

Judgments:

B. Prabhakar Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh 1985 Suppl (2) SCR 573

In B. Prabhakar Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh, the observations are:- "Where internal aids are not forthcoming, we can always have recourse to external aids to discover the object of the legislation. External aids are not ruled out. This is now a well settled principle of modern statutory construction. Thus 'Enacting History' is relevant: "The enacting history of an Act is the surrounding corpus of public knowledge relative to its introduction into Parliament as a Bill, and subsequent progress through, and ultimate passing by, Parliament. In particular it is the extrinsic material assumed to be within the contemplation of Parliament when it passed the Act." Again "In the period immediately following its enactment, the history of how enactment is regarded in the light of development from time to time."

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Internal aids for interpretation of statute

 Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss about internal aids used to interpret a statute.

Internal aids for interpretation of statute:

The preamble, title, heading, marginal notes, punctuation, illustrations, definitions, proviso, explanation etc. are considered as internal aids for interpretation of statute. All these things are incorporated in a bare Act.

Preamble of the Act:

Preamble is a recital to the intent of the legislature as it enumerates the mischief to be remedied. By a long catena of decisions, it is now well settled that preamble is not a part of enactment. In India, it is well settled in the field of constitutional law that the preamble to the Constitution of India and Directive Principles of State Policy are the guidelines for interpreting the constitutional provisions.

Whenever there is a reasonable doubt about the provisions in the statute, it is permissible to refer to the heading of the provision for interpreting the section.

Marginal Notes:

Insofar as marginal notes inserted in the legislation itself are concerned, they are also treated as guidelines for interpreting the statutes. In the case of the Indian Constitution, the marginal notes have been enacted by the Constituent Assembly and hence they may be referred to for interpreting the Articles of the Constitution. If the words used in the enactment are clear and unambiguous, the marginal note cannot control the meaning, but in case of ambiguity or doubt, the marginal note may be referred.

Illustrations

In many statutes, especially, penal statutes, enacted in the olden times, it is the practice of the legislature to give illustrations. The illustrations cannot be used either to cut down or extend the scope of the section.

Long title and short title:

It is now settled that Long Title of an Act is a part of the Act and is admissible as an aid to its construction. The long title which often precedes the preamble must be distinguished with the short title. The long title is taken along with the preamble or even in its absence is a good guide regarding the object, scope or purpose of the Act. The short title being only an abbreviation for purposes of reference is not a useful aid to construction.

Headings:

The view is now settled that the Headings or Titles prefixed to section or group of sections can be referred to in construing an Act of the Legislature. But conflicting opinions have been expressed on the question as to what weight should be attached to the headings. Only in the case of ambiguity or doubt the heading or sub-heading may be referred to as an aid in construing the provision but even in such a case it could not be used for cutting down the wide application of the clear words used in the provision. The heading prefixed to section or sets of sections in some modern statutes are regarded as preambles to those sections. They cannot control the plain words of the statute but they may explain ambiguous words.

Punctuations

‘Punctuation’ means to mark with points and to make points with usual stops. It is the art of dividing sentences by point or mark. Punctuation is considered as a minor element in the construction of statutes. Text book writers comment that English Court pay little or no attention to punctuation while interpreting the statutes. The same is not the cases in Indian Courts. If a statute in question is found to be carefully punctuated, punctuation may be resorted for the purpose of construction.

Schedules:

Another important internal aid is the schedule or schedules appended to a statute. It forms part of the statute and it can be interpreted independently as well as with the aids of interpretation of statutory provision.

Illustrations:

Illustrations appended to a section form part of the statute and although forming no part of the section, are of relevance and value in the construction of the text of the section and they should not be readily rejected as repugnant to the section.

It would be the very last resort of construction to make this assumption. The great usefulness of the Illustrations which have, although not part of the sections, been expressly furnished by the Legislature as helpful in the working and application of the statute should not be thus impaired.

Definitions or interpretation clauses:

Definitions in an Act are to be applied only when there is nothing repugnant in the subject or context, and this is so even if such a qualifying provision is not expressly stated by the legislature. The definition must ordinarily determine the application of the word or phrase defined; but the definition itself must first be interpreted before it is applied. When the definition of a word gives it an extended meaning, the word is not to be interpreted by its extended meaning every time it is used, for the meaning ultimately depends on the context; and a definition clause does not, ordinarily enlarge the scope of the Act.

Proviso:

As a general rule, a proviso is added to an enactment to qualify or create an exception to what is in the enactment and ordinarily, a proviso is not interpreted as stating a general rule.

The proviso is subordinate to the main section. A proviso does not enlarge an enactment except for compelling reasons. Sometimes an unnecessary proviso is inserted by way of abundant caution. A proviso may sometimes contain a substantive provision.

Explanation:

It does not ordinarily enlarge the scope of the original section which it explains, but only makes the meaning clear beyond dispute.

Non-obstante clause:

A section sometimes begins with the phrase ‘notwithstanding anything contained etc.’ Such a clause is called a non obstante clause and its general purpose is to give the provision contained in the non obstante clause an overriding effect in the event of a conflict between it and the rest of the section.

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Schedules

 Vande Matram! Interpretation of Statute is very important skill which every law professional must possess. Hence it is incorporated in the degree course of law. Let’s discuss use of Schedules in interpretation of statutes.

Schedules:

Another important internal aid is the schedule or schedules appended to a statute. It forms part of the statute and it can be interpreted independently as well as with the aids of interpretation of statutory provision.

Schedules form part of a statute. They are at the end and contain minute details for working out the provisions of the express enactment. The expression in the schedule cannot override the provisions of the express enactment.

If the Act says that the schedule is to be used for a certain purpose and the heading of the part of the schedule in question shows that it is prima facie at any rate devoted to that purpose, then the Act and the schedule must be read as if the schedule were operating for that purpose only. If the language of a clause in the schedule can be satisfied without extending it beyond for a certain purpose, in spite of that, if the language of the schedule has in its words and terms that go clearly outside the purpose, the effect must be given by them and they must not be treated as limited by the heading of the part of the schedule or by the purpose mentioned in the Act for which the schedule is prima facie to be used. One cannot refuse to give effect to clear words simply because prima facie they seem to be limited by the heading of the schedule and the definition of the purpose of the schedule contained in the Act.

In Ramchand Textile v. Sales Tax Officer, A.I.R. 1961, All. 24, the Allahabad High Court has held that, if there is any appearance of inconsistency between the schedule and the enactment, the enactment shall prevail. If the enacting part and the schedule cannot be made to correspond, the latter must yield to the former.

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