CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

SCHOOL OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE

TOPIC:- PREAMBLE

Submitted To:- Prof. Sanjay Prakash Srivastava

Submitted By:-
Prabhakar Kumar
Course:-BA.LLB.(Hons.)
Semester:-7th
CUSB1613125036
Subject:- Interpretation of Statutes
 Acknowledgement

It is great pleasure for me to present the final draft of the project of

Jurisprudence. I am very obliged to my prof. S.P. Srivastava of central
university of south Bihar Gaya who has given me a task to complete the
final draft of the project work. I am very much helped by him regarding
the formation of this final draft.
I express my heartfelt indebtedness to sir who showed me the path and
helped me to understand the project topic. It was not possible for me to
make the final draft if I was not being helped by him. He acted as my
mentor and also a guide to help me to understand the the topic.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents for their kind

co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this
final draft.

I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to the computer

lab assistant who provided me all the facilities regarding the
conditioned computer with a good Wi-Fi net.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleague in developing the

project and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

Thanks

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 Table of content

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….2-3

Various cases which helps the interpretation of statues…………………………………3-4

Nature of a Preamble………………………………………………………………………4

Interpretation of Preamble of the constitution……………………………………………5-7

Role of Judges in Interpreting the Preamble……………………………………………..7-8

Limitations of Preamble as Internal Aid to Construction………………………………..8-9

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..10

1
 Introduction

The term interpretation means “To give meaning to”. Governmental power has been divided into
three wings namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Interpretation of statues to
render justice is the primary function of the judiciary. It is the duty of the Court to interpret the
Act and give meaning to each word of the Statute.

The most common rule of interpretation is that every part of the statute must be understood in a
harmonious manner by reading and construing every part of it together. The maxim “A Verbis
legis non est recedendum” means that you must not vary the words of the statute while
interpreting it.

The object of interpretation of statutes is to determine the intention of the legislature conveyed
expressly or impliedly in the language used. In Santi swarup Sarkar v pradeep kumar sarkar 1,
the Supreme Court held that if two interpretations are possible of the same statute, the one which
validates the statute must be preferred.

“The Preamble of the statue,” said Coke, “is a good means to find out the meaning of the
statute, and as it were a key to open the understanding thereof. The preamble states the main
objective, purpose and intention of the law makers. Preamble is the introductory part of a statue
or act of parliament which states the intent and reasons of law. Every statute or act of parliament
must start with a preamble which shows the intent or we may say the basic criteria for enactment
which cannot be violated. It indicates the principles as guidelines by the framers of the
constitution. It is not the part of the constitutions as article. It is merely a statement affined to a
statute indicating the principles used as guidelines by its framers. No reading of any Constitution
can be complete without reading Preamble from the beginning to the end. While the end may
expand, or alter, the point of commencement can never change .It is the Preamble wherefrom the
Constitution commences.

The Act Starts with a preamble and is generally small. The main objective and purpose of the
Act are found in the Preamble of the Statute. “Preamble is the Act in a nutshell. It is a
preparatory statement. It contains the recitals showing the reason for enactment of the Act. If the

1
AIR 1997 Cal 197

2
language of the Act is clear the preamble must be ignored. The preamble is an intrinsic aid in the
interpretation of an ambiguous act.

In Kashi Prasad v State2, the court held that even though the preamble cannot be used to defeat
the enacting clauses of a statute, it can be treated as a key for the interpretation of the statute.

VARIOUS CASE LAWS WHICH HELPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNAL

AIDS TO INTERPRETATION

Recently, again Supreme Court in Grasim Industries Ltd. V Collector of Customs,

Bombay, 3has followed the same principle and observed:

Where the words are clear and there is no obscurity, and there is no ambiguity and the intention
of the legislature is clearly conveyed, there is no scope for court to take upon itself the task of
amending or altering the statutory provisions.

Recently, in District Mining Officer and others v Tata Iron & Steel Co. and another,4 Supreme
Court has observed:

“It is also a cardinal principle of construction that external aids are brought in by widening the
concept of context as including not only other enacting provisions of the same statute, but its
preamble, the existing state of law, other statutes in pari materia and the mischief which the
statute was intended to remedy.”

In Wilson v. Secretary of state for trade and Industry,5

The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement
completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human

2
1980 BB CJ 612
3
(2002)4 SCC 297
4
(2001)7 SCC 358.
5
UKHL 40, [2003] 3 WLR 568,

3
Rights Act since it deprived the respondent of its property rights. It was also argued that it was
not possible to make a declaration of incompatibility in respect of matters arising from events
before the coming into force of the 1998 Act.

Honourable court held: Parliament cannot have intended that section 3(1) should have the effect
of altering the parties’’ existing and obligations under the Consumer Credit Act. In this transition
type of case, section 3(1) is inapplicable to the interpretation of the Consumer Credit Act, and the
court had no jurisdiction to make a declaration of incompatibility. The court is not required to
evaluate the effect of primary legislation in terms of convention rights and, where appropriate, to
make a formal declaration of incompatibility. The court was entitled for the purpose of
interpretation to look at ministerial statements but not generally at parliamentary debates to
establish the purpose of the Act under consideration, and in doing so it was neither encroaching
upon parliamentary privilege nor questioning the proceeding of parliament.

Nature of a Preamble

Preamble is not legally enforceable. It states principles and a brief statement. All the principles
laid down in the preamble find expression in the enactment and provide a guiding light, true
appreciation and understanding of document.

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PREAMBLE

The Preamble of the statue like the long title is a part of the act and is an admissible aid to
construction, the preamble express the scope, object and purpose of the act. It may be recite the
ground and cause of making the statue, the evil sought to be remedied, or the doubts which may
be intended to be settled in words of Sir John Nichol

“It is to the preamble more specially we are to look for the reason or the spirit of every statue,
rehearsing this as it ordinarily does, the evils sought to be remedied, or the doubts purported to
be removed by the statue, and so evidencing, in best and most satisfactory manner, the object or
intention of legislature in making or passing the statue itself.”6

THE PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION

A preamble helps in interpreting the provisions of the constitution. It can be looked at when
some article is ambiguous. It also explains the object of the constitution. While summing up, it
can be said that a preamble is introduction of an enactment. Although it is not an integral part of
the constitution, it explains introduction, reasons, intent and scope of the constitution. The
Preamble when analyzed can be divided into three parts by reference to its qualitative
characteristics. The first part is declaratory, where by the people of India in their Constituent
Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves this Constitution. That is the Constitution of
India7. The second part is revolutionary, whereby the people of India solemnly resolved to
Constitute India into a Sovereign Democratic, Republic “We, the people of India, having
solemnly resolved in our constituent assembly this 26th Nov.1949” is a matter of history or the
past and proposals to place on record an event which has already happened. Each and Every
word of the Preamble has been cautiously chosen. Even the arrangement of the words- the order,
in which they have been placed-is not without significance and suggestion. The Preamble to the
Constitution has played a predominant role in shaping the destiny of the country. The Preamble
of the Constitution like the preamble of any statute furnish the key to open the mind of the
6
Brett v Brett, (1826) 162 ER 456, p. 458- 459
7
Keshavananda Bharati V. State of Kerala

5
makers of the Constitution more so because the Constituent Assembly took great pains in
formulating it so that it may reflect the essential features and basic objectives of the Constitution.
The opinion of K.K Mathew J. said that the preamble stands part of the constitution and there
seems to be no valid reason why the Preamble, being a part of the constitution, cannot be
amended. The framers of the Constitution of India set out three broad purposes preamble: First,
they sought to constitute India into a „Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic‟. India is
Republic because the head of the state is not hereditary monarch. It is Democratic because the
Constitution ensures the creation and existence of the government at the will of the people
through the participation in the formation of the government at regular intervals on the principle
of universal adult franchise. It is Sovereign because it can make or unmake any decision with
respect to itself without interference by any other country.

The drafting committee of constituent assembly formulated the preamble in the light of objective
resolution but restricted it to defining the essential feature of a new state and its basic socio
political objectives. The preamble of constitution like any preamble of any statue furnishes the
key to open the mind of the maker of the constitution more so because the constitution assembly
took great pain in formulating it so that it may reflect the essential feature and basic objectives of
the constitution. The constitution including preamble must be read as a whole and in case of
doubt interpreted consistent with its basic structure to promote the great objectives stated in the
preamble.8

The preamble as a whole can never be regarded as a source of substantive power or as a source
of any prohibition or limitation. 9The preamble of the constitution amendment act can be used to
understand the object of the amendment. 10 The majority judgement in Keshavananda bharti11
and Minerava Mills12 strongly relied upon the preamble in reaching the conclusion that the
power of amendment confer by article 368 was limited and did not enable parliament to alter the
basic structure or framework of the constitution.13

8
Keshavanada Bharti v State of Karnataka AIR 1973 SC 1461, Minerva Mills v Union of India AIR 1980 SC 1789
9
Indira Nehru Gandhi v. RajNarain AIR 1975 SC 2299, this has also been reiterated in Raghu nath Rao GanpathRao
v. Union Of India AIR 1993 SC 1267
10
Raghu nath Rao GanpathRao v. Union Of India AIR 1993 SC 1267
11
Supra Note 21
12
Ibid
13
Ibid

6
By Sec. 2 of the constitution amendment act 1976 two amendments were made by the
parliaments in the preamble wherein the words ‘sovereign, democratic, republic’ were replaced
by the words ‘sovereign socialist secular democratic’ were substituted and secondly for the
words unity of India the words unity and integrity of nations were substituted. These
amendments were to be held valid in Minerva Mills’s case. The addition of the word socialist
enables the court to lean more in favour of nationalisation and economic equality.14

Lord Somervell has stated

“The principle that the preamble differs in their scope and consequently in the weight, if any,
which they may have on one side or the other of the dispute. There can be no rule. If in an act the
preamble is general or brief statement of the main purpose, it, may well be of little, if any, value.
The act may say to go beyond or in some respect fall short of the purpose so briefly stated.”

Role of Preamble as Stated by Judges

 Khanna, J., set out the utilities of the Preamble from the point of views of interpretation of
the Constitution or, statutes:-
 Reference can be made to the Preamble for the purpose of construing when the words of
a statute or the Constitution are ambiguous and are admitted; and
 The Preamble can also be used to shed light on and clarify obscurity in the language of a
statutory or, constitutional provision.
 When, however, the language of a section or article is plain and suffers from no
ambiguity or obscurity, no gloss can be put on the words of the section or article by
invoking the Preamble.

 Jaganmohan Reddy, J., the utility of the Preamble in interpreting the Constitution in-

depth ,is clear from the opinion of jurists on the following aspects:- The Preamble is a key to

open the mind of the makers as to the mischief‟s, which are to be remedied;

14
JUSTICE G.P. SINGH, “THE PRINCIPLE OF INTERPRETATION OF STATUE”11th Ed., (2008)

7
  That it is properly resorted to, where doubts or ambiguities are arise upon the words of

the enacting part;

 Even where the words are clear and unambiguous, it can be used to prevent an „obvious

absurdity‟ or to a direct overthrow of the intention expressed in the Preamble ,and it

would be much more so, if they were ambiguous;

 There is no reason why, in fundamental law or Constitution of the government, an equal

attention should not be given to the intention of the framers, as stated in the Preamble.

 The Preamble can never be resorted to , to enlarge the powers expressly given ,nor to

substantively create any power or to imply a power which is otherwise withdrawn from

the Constitution ;and

 Its true function is to „expound the nature, extent and application of the powers‟,

actually conferred by the Constitution

Limitations of Preamble as Internal Aid to Construction15

(a) Preamble cannot be pressed into service as long as the words are clear and precise and are
susceptible to only one meaning.

(b) Preamble can be resorted to only when the language of a provision is reasonably capable of
alternative constructions.

(c) Preamble cannot either restrict or extend the meaning and scope of the words used in the
enacting part.

(d) Preamble can only indicate in a general way the content and color of an enactment but cannot
override the enacting provisions in the Act.

15
T.N. Bhattacharya, Interpretation of statue.

8
(e) In case of conflict between preamble and a section, the preamble would succumb and section
shall prevail.

(f) If the provisions contained in a statute do not accord with the preamble, then those provisions
cannot be invalidated on this ground.

(g) Preamble cannot be used to control or qualify the clear and precise language of enactment

(h) Preamble cannot be regarded as source of any substantive power or of any prohibition or
limitation.

Conclusion

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Preamble is part of the statue and an important tool of Interpretation of that particular statue.
Preamble consist of essence and the mischief which is to be resolved by means of statue and all
the interpretation shall be done in light of that mischief, so according to the intension of the
legislature. Although it is not an integral part of the constitution, it explains introduction,
reasons, intent and scope of the constitution. The Preamble when analyzed can be divided into
three parts by reference to its qualitative characteristics. The first part is declaratory, where by
the people of India in their Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave to themselves this
Constitution.

“It is to the preamble more specially we are to look for the reason or the spirit of every statue,
rehearsing this as it ordinarily does, the evils sought to be remedied, or the doubts purported to
be removed by the statue, and so evidencing, in best and most satisfactory manner, the object or
intention of legislature in making or passing the statue itself.

The object of interpretation of statutes is to determine the intention of the legislature conveyed
expressly or impliedly in the language used. In Santi swarup Sarkar v pradeep kumar sarkar 16,
the Supreme Court held that if two interpretations are possible of the same statute, the one which
validates the statute must be preferred.

Preamble is the introductory part of a statue or act of parliament which states the intent and
reasons of law. Every statute or act of parliament must start with a preamble which shows the
intent or we may say the basic criteria for enactment which cannot be violated. It indicates the
principles as guidelines by the framers of the constitution. It is not the part of the constitutions as
article. It is merely a statement affined to a statute indicating the principles used as guidelines by
its framers. No reading of any Constitution can be complete without reading Preamble from the
beginning to the end. While the end may expand, or alter, the point of commencement can never
change .It is the Preamble wherefrom the Constitution commences.

16
AIR 1997 Cal 197

10