DAMODARAM SANJIVIYYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY
SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P,INDIA

PROJECT TITLE- ISSUES AND AND PROBLEMS WITH

VAGUNESS IN LAW

SUBJECT- JURISPRUDENCE

NAME OF THE STUDENT: P MEGHNA SRINIVAS

ROLL NO.2019109

3rd SEMESTER

1
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I w0uld like t0 express my gratitude and heartfelt appreciati0n t0 my teacher wh0 gave me the
g0lden 0pp0rtunity t0 d0 this w0nderful pr0ject 0n the interesting t0pic “Issues and concerns with
vagueness in law” which helped me learn, analyse and expl0re this specific field 0f subject by
digging deeper int0 the never ending mine 0f kn0wledge thr0ugh an extensive and th0r0ugh
research.This topic has helped me understand the subject better and has given me a sense of clarity
on the subject.

Sec0ndly, I w0uld als0 like t0 thank my family wh0 helped me a l0t in c0mpleting this pr0ject
successfully within the given time frame.Lastly, the acknowledgement would be incomplete without
appreciation to my seniors who guided me and showed me the right path in finishing the task of
completing the project successfully.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION TO VAGUE AND AMBIGOUS LAWS

2. PROBLEMS OF VAGUE AND AMGIOUS LAW

3. IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE

4.VAGUNESS, AMBIGUITY AND INTERPRETATION

5.CONCLUSION
 ABSTRACT

Few topics in the theory of language are as closely related to legal interpretation as the linguistic
indeterminacy associated with ambiguity and vagueness. “Significant portions of the institutional
legal system, especially courts at the appellate level and supreme courts, are for the most part
concerned not with disentangling the facts of cases but with the indeterminacies of the law.” Such
highly developed institutional structures would not be needed if the law contained only clear cut
rules establishing precise legal duties and rights for each case. “It is hard cases that lie at the heart of
legal interpretation as a professional enterprise, and it is for this reason that penumbral cases are the
“daily diet of the law schools” . For law as a professional discipline, ambiguity and vagueness are at
the heart of one of law’s central topics.” Vague is basically means something which is not clearly
expressed. The meaning of which is indefinite is basically called vague. Now when we talk about
vague in terms of law , it means when any statute is or any rule is not clear as to in which situation it
is going to apply that’s when we say that the law is vague. This is not something rare vagueness
almost comes as a package with law. Vagueness is also told be bad for a number of reasons
obviously. Vagueness can rise to a lot issues while interpreting the law.The word interpretation is
derived from the Latin term ‘interpretari’, which means to explain, expound, understand, or to
translate. Basically, this requires an act of seeking the true sense of the words used in the law. The
different sources used are restricted to exploring the written document and clarifying precisely what
the words used in the written text or in the laws have indicated.Interpretation takes place if it is
necessary to ascertain the meaning of a legal document. In this paper will discuss what are vague
laws, why is it important to have a more clear law,problems of vague law, interpretation of the vague
and laws ans it can be avoided.
 SYNOPSIS

INTRODUCTION: vagueness of law is very much prevalent and is something that can not be
avoided but what can be done is to be interpreted in the correct way when there is
vagueness.vagueness of of law basically when we don’t know if a law applies to borderline
cases.Few “topics in the theory of language are as closely related to legal interpretation as the
linguistic indeterminacy associated with ambiguity and vagueness. Significant portions of the
institutional legal system, especially courts at the appellate level and supreme courts, are for the most
part concerned not with disentangling the facts of cases but with the indeterminacies of the law.”

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: to know the issues and concerns of vagueness of law and how to
interpret

SCOPE OF STUDY: the study is limited to the issues and concerns of vagueness in law and the
interpretations

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY:to know how the issues and concerns can be rectified

LITERATURE REVIEW:The researcher has collected relevant information from various primary
and secondary sources.
PRIMARY SOURCES : Primary sources that the researcher has relied upon include acts passed by the
government, judgements delivered by the judiciary. Judgements taken for reference in the project
include:Shreya Singhal v. Union of India,
Manmohan Das against Bishan Das,
Smith v. Huges,
Pyare Lal v. Ram Chandra,
Punjab v. Quiser Jehan Begum,
Tirath Singh v. Bachittar Singh,
M.S.M Sharma v. Krishna Sinha

SECONDARY SOURCES: Secondary sources that the researcher has relied upon include various books,
articles-Olafur Pall Jonsson, vagueness, interpretation, and the law,
web resources like ipleaders,legal services India and legal theory lexion.
RESERACH METHODOLGY:The researcher has applied doctrinal method of research to obtain
the relevant information from various primary and secondary sources.

TYPES OF RESEARCH:The research is descriptive, explanatory and analytical in nature.

RESEARCH QUESTION:Whether the vagueness of law is a threat or a serious concern to legal

interpretation?
 INTRODUCTION

Vague is basically means something which is not clearly expressed. The meaning of which is
indefinite is basically called vague. Now when we talk about vague in terms of law , it means when
any statute is or any rule is not clear as to in which situation it is going to apply that’s when we say
that the law is vague. This is not something rare vagueness almost comes as a package with law.
Vagueness is also told be bad for a number of reasons obviously. “Vagueness can rise to a lot issues
while interpreting the law. One has to be really clear about it before coming to a conclusion. Now
what does it mean when they say some concept, term is vague? Lets take for example the term “tall”
now how do we know who comes under this category, since the world is not divided into “tall” and
“not so tall” categories we can’t really where or on whom this word or phrase applies. In short we
can say that the word tall is vague.1” There are many terms like tall for example short, ugly,
beautiful,cool,weak,strong-all these terms have borderline cases.this is one way we may define the
term vague.we can say a term is vague if and only if there are borderline cases. “If a term does not
have any borderline cases then it cannot be called vague.Vagueness and ambiguity are often
confused as same but ambiguity is different from the term vague.” Ambiguity is when a term, phrase
or concept has more than one meaning, for example take the word “cool” one meaning of it refers to
the temperature that is the contrast of warm whereas the other meaning has to do with fashion and
social attractiveness not temperature and then there are other aspects to that word where we refer to
one’s expression during situation like, he kept his “cool” in a very pressured situation.The definition
of an ambiguous word can be apparent in a specific sense. “The expression "He's one cool dude" is
likely to refer to social attractiveness and not temperature with just a little more detail.” But the
uncertainty may be difficult to overcome in some contexts: "The mojito is a cool drink" may apply
either to the fact that mojitos are served chilled or to the fact that among some social classes, mojitos
are trendy and popular.And this last example, "cool" can be used to illustrate the fact that the same
term can be “both vague and ambiguous in the same context.” If I say, "Bring me a cool drink!", my
utterance may be both ambiguous--do I mean fashionable or coldish?--and vague--how far below
room temperature is "cool" or are mojitos still "cool" or are they "out of style"?2

Interpretation of vague and ambiguous texts

Now, “that we have a basic idea of what vague or ambiguity means several legal texts are
ambiguous. In fact, early in their law school careers, most law students become very familiar with a
1
Vaguness and ambiguity,legal theory lexicon,Legal Theory Lexicon: Interpretation (typepad.com)
2
Vaguness and ambiguity,Legal Theory Lexicon: Interpretation (typepad.com)
variety of ambiguous terms. Take "reasonable"—was the behavior of the tort defendant "reasonable"
under the conditions? “There will be specific instances of irrational behavior: in a residential area,
driving 150 mph. Yet borderline cases may also occur. Was it fair to drive in light fog at 55 mph?”
Any general, abstract, and ambiguous legal language. The term "equal protection" in the 14th
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, for example, could refer to a rather general and
abstract definition of equality. In view of this generality and abstraction, it may be that the instances
of "borderline" appear to make up the entire doctrine of equal protection. What will count as a simple
example of "equal" or of "unequal"? In a common law system, by case-by-case adjudication, general
and abstract language may be translated into comparatively more precise and concrete laws.
Vagueness is ubiquitous in the law, and frequently legal actors (courts and others who apply the law)
must resolve borderline cases. “Every law student is familiar with the strategies that are employed,
which include case-by-case balancing tests, supplementary doctrines that provide bright-line rules to
implement vague legal texts, and so forth.”

Vagueness can better explained by a scenario:

A legislation has been passed that makes it illegal for houses to be painted pink. Name it No Pink,
please  Law for houses. “A group of individuals, who call themselves the Pink Society, choose In
order to undermine the statute. They buy an immense amount of red paint and break it up. P1, P2, P3,
... P1000, each of which is big enough for a whole house to be decorated.” Then a splash of white is
added to the to P1, two splashes of white paint to P2, and three splashes of white paint to P3. , and so
on. The effect is that P1 is still obviously red, while P1000 is practically white. In between, the
colors form a continuum from red to white through pink.Then the members of the Pink Society paint
their houses in the various colors ranging from red through pink to white. “It should be clear enough
that very many members of the Pink Society have broken the No Pink Houses law.” But the word
pink here is quite vague and it very difficult to come to conclusion as to which shade of that colour
can be referred to as pink. As we have seen, the rule of No Pink Houses itself is ambiguous.3 “One
problem now is whether a judge should go a step further towards a more precise definition of actions
as admissible or non admissible.Could a judge, for instance, legitimately rule that a house painted in
a particular shade of pink is a violation of the law whereas a house that is painted in a color that is
ever so slightly more toward red is not a violation of the law?”

3
Olafur Pall Jonsson, vagueness, interpretation, and the law, legal theory, September 2009
 PROBLEMS OR ISSUES WITH VAGUE OR AMBIGIOUS LAWS
Vague laws involve three basic dangers: First, they may harm the innocent by failing to warn of the
offense. Second, they encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement because vague laws
delegate enforcement and statutory interpretation to individual government officials. Third, because
citizens will take extra precautions to avoid violating the law, vague laws inhibit our individual
freedom.4
The doctrine of void-for-vagueness dictates that unduly ambiguous criminal laws imposed on the
principles of due process would be deemed void. The U.S. Supreme Court has based two rationales
on the doctrine. First, the common citizen is not notified by ambiguous penal laws about what is
forbidden, thus breaching an important element of due process: the need for fair notice.
Second, vague penal statutes violate separation-of-powers and rule-of-law principles inherent in due
process by delegating legislative authority to other actors in the criminal justice system: police,
prosecutors, judges, and juries.Statutes that are not ambiguous nor unclear are very problematic. As
vague ones do, a law that has a finite number of possible interpretations, and is thus unclear,
generates notice problems. Potential criminals faced with an unclear statute may have no idea
whether a court would ultimately follow a narrower or wider interpretation of the statute. Ambiguous
laws often result in the transfer of legislative power to prosecutors by encouraging them to apply
ambiguous statutory terms to the broadest possible sense (at least until they are definitively
interpreted by a court of last resort) and to courts by allowing them to interpret those terms in a
limited or broad manner. he courts have generally determined that vague laws deprive citizens of
their rights without fair process, thus violating due process.Although not all laws are vague, legal
systems necessarily include vague laws. When the law is vague, the result is that people's legal rights
and duties and powers are indeterminate in some (sot in all) cases.

The indeterminacy claim seems to make the ideal of the rule of law unattainable: to the extent that
legal rights and duties are indeterminate, we cannot be ruled by law. The indeterminacy claim is a
threat to what I will call the ‘standard view of adjudication’: the view that the judge’s task is just to
give effect to the legal rights and duties of the parties. These drastic consequences have made the
indeterminacy claim into an important focus of controversy in legal theory in this century. Legal
theorists who take the standard view of adjudication have rejected the indeterminacy claim. The
controversies have addressed one of the two characteristic marks of vagueness: the fact that doubt
and disagreement arise over the application of vague expressions in some cases (‘borderline case)

4
Ilya Shapiro, Vague laws defy the rule of law, cato.org,https://www.cato.org/blog/vague-laws-defy-rule-law#:~:text=Vague%20laws
%20involve%20three%20basic,interpretation%20to%20individual%20government%20officials. Last accessed:10.1.21
A landmark judgement in India:
To be clear and unambiguous, a criminal law is legally required. The idea is that an average person
should be able to recognize what constitutes a crime, and prevent this action as a law-abiding citizen.
This is exactly why there is no question that "blurred indications of crime are not enough to create
it."Crime codes are invalid for vagueness, and do not clearly and certainly state that
conduct/omission attracts criminal penalties. This is because such vague laws can lead to unfair and
discriminatory prosecutions and allow much too much power to be concentrated in the hands of law
enforcers. A consequence of this will be selective prosecution, based on the power holders' mere
whims and caprice. As compared to the Rule of Law, the need for consistency in determining the
limits of criminal justice is inevitably born of a natural fear of the Rule of Men.The now-departed
Section 66A of the IT Act suffers from this vagueness. Aggressive online speech causing irritation or
inconvenience was penalized. In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India5, the provision was overturned by
the Supreme Court on the ground that it was "open-ended, undefined, vague and "highly nebulous in
its meaning" and, consequently, unconstitutionally vague."This theory of unconstitutional vagueness
has been put into motion to strike down a wide variety of laws around the world, including: a Florida
statute that provided for punishment for "abominable and detestable crimes against nature," which
was rightly struck off on the ground that it needed too much speculation and also that two people of
common intelligence may disagree on what an abominable intelligence should do.
Brief facts of the case
Two girls-Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan, were arrested by the Mumbai police in 2012 for
expressing their displeasure at a bandh called in the wake of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackery’s death.
The women posted their comments on the Facebook. “The arrested women were released later on
and it was decided to close the criminal cases against them yet the arrests attracted widespread public
protest. It was felt that the police has misused its power by invoking Section 66A inter alia
contending that it violates the freedom of speech and expression.The words used in the IT Act
Section 66A are considered to be very vague and loose in nature. It is so ambiguous that it is very
difficult to bring up a charge clearly on an accused under this clause. Furthermore, the executive
authority is not capable of recognizing the basis for bifurcating a specific speech or expression that
falls within the scope of this clause.” For this reason, it appears to be argued that what may be
unfavorable to one person might not be to the other, and this leaves the clause entirely
constitutionally vague.Under the legal framework of India, a law having ambiguities in its successful
meaning is considered to be invalid. In the case of Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, the same was
5
(2013) 12 S.C.C. 73
upheld. In this case, the court of law held that in its prohibitory application, an enactment must be
deemed void because it has vague features. Therefore, in our jurisprudence system, the fundamental
doctrine asserts that a statute governing persons in society should provide a fair and reasonable
notice of their illegal or legal conduct. In the present case, the Court of India admitted the petitioner's
submissions and agreed on the uncertainty of section 66A.

IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE

It is necessary, as a writer, not only to think about what you are writing, but how you are saying it. It
is not enough to have well structured ideas articulated in full and coherent sentences and paragraphs
to communicate effectively. One must also think about his/her writing's style, tone and clarity, and
adapt these elements to the audience of reading. Again, the secret to writing success is analyzing
one's audience and intent. The writer must consider the intent of the document, the context in which
it is being written, and who will read it, in order to choose the most appropriate language.
Characteristics of Effective Language
There are six main characteristics of effective language. Effective language is: (1) “concrete and
specific, not vague and abstract”; “Concrete language requires explanations that generate concrete
images that can be visualized by the reader with information”. Abstract language is abstract and
obscure and does not bring particular visual images to mind. Find the following two collections of
comments. The declaration at the top is abstract, but towards the bottom, the statements become
increasingly concrete and precise.6
SET 1:He is lazy and discourteous
He is untidy and unclean
SET 2:You do not get along well with John
You and John have a lot of arguments
As the vocabulary becomes more precise and realistic, note how much more efficient the statements
become. It is possible to view the statements at the top, which are more abstract, in many possible
ways, and leave many questions unanswered. The statements at the bottom are less prone to various
interpretations, and are more concrete.
(2) “concise, not verbose”;The ability to convey the desired message in as few words as possible is a
hallmark of productive authors. Strong authors use vocabulary that is concise and to-the-point, in
other words. Consider the examples that follow.
(a)It is commonly debated by workers that when the merger takes place between the two businesses,
many of them will be required to leave jobs and take on new roles.
(b) Before determining whether the person on trial is guilty or innocent in this case, the jury
members should make sure that all the important and appropriate evidence in the case is carefully
considered, pondered and reflected upon.Note how long-winded these words are, and how simple it
is to shorten and simplify them. Re-phrasing sentences to remove needless wordiness is an essential
aspect of revising and editing. Eliminating repetitive terms or phrases is one way of minimizing
wordiness. Consider the first example above. The terms "to change jobs" and "take on new
responsibilities" are redundant, and could be merged to articulate themselves more concisely in one
6
Effective use of language, https://faculty.washington.edu/ezent/el.htm ,last accessed:10.1.21.
short sentence.Consider example two above. The phrase "...should be sure to carefully think about,
ponder and reflect on..." contains three ways of saying the same thing. This sentence could be
improved by using only one of the key phrases: "...to reflect on..."
(3) “familiar, not obscure”;Familiar language is what is readily interpreted and understood by readers
when they use it on a daily basis. One of the most essential functions of language is to create
"homophily" with one's readers, or a sense of commonality. Language that is new and unfamiliar to
the reader appears to highlight the discrepancies between writer and reader, making it hard to
understand the message. The message is likely to have more effect by using vocabulary that is
familiar to the reader.
(4) “precise and clear, not inaccurate or ambiguous”;The use of suitable terminology is a tricky
matter since the meaning of words is subjective and situational. In other terms, words can be
interpreted in various ways by different people in different circumstances. For this reason, choosing a
language that is as precise and simple as possible is crucial. The more precise and clear the use of
language becomes, the lower a message's number of potential interpretations.7
(5) “constructive, not destructive”; In a positive way, supportive language phrases a potentially
negative message, while destructive language leads the reader to blame and criticism, causing
defensiveness. When the writer's vocabulary communicates any or more of the following, readers are
likely to become defensive:
Supremacy over the reader
Indifference or apathy to the reader regarding a topic of significance
Negative evaluation or reader's judgment (as opposed to neutral descriptions or observations)
Command or jurisdiction over the reader.
Skepticism or uncertainty about the credibility of the reader or the validity of their statements
(6) “appropriately forma”l.8The formality of the language one uses should match the formality of the
situation and the relationship between the writer and reader.

7
Effective use of language, https://faculty.washington.edu/ezent/el.htm ,last accessed:10.1.21.
8
Effective use of language, https://faculty.washington.edu/ezent/el.htm ,last accessed:10.1.21.
 VAGUENESS, AMBIGUITY AND INTERPRETATION
The word “interpretation is derived from the Latin term ‘interpretari’, which means to explain,
expound, understand, or to translate. Basically, this requires an act of seeking the true sense of the
words used in the law.” The different sources used are restricted to exploring the written document
and clarifying precisely what the words used in the written text or in the laws have
indicated.Interpretation takes place if it is necessary to ascertain the meaning of a legal document.
Using different interpretive methods and principles of construction, lawyers and judges look for
significance. Judicial interpretation can be a controversial topic in constitutional and statutory law.
Interpretation of statutes is the correct understanding of the law. This process is commonly adopted
by the courts for determining the exact intention of the legislature.9Since the court's objective is not
only to read the law, but also to interpret it in a practical way to fit the case from case to case. It is
often used with the actual purpose of the legislature to determine the real connotation of any Act or
text.In the law that is required to be healed, there may be mischief, and this can be achieved by
applying different understanding norms and hypotheses that can often go against the literal sense.
The purpose of the interpretation is to illustrate the meaning of the terms used in the statutes, which
may not be so simple.In the law that is required to be healed, there may be mischief, and this can be
achieved by applying different understanding norms and hypotheses that can often go against the
literal sense. The purpose of the interpretation is to illustrate the meaning of the terms used in the
statutes, which may not be so simple."According to Salmond, the process by which the court seeks to
determine the meaning of the legislature by means of the authoritative forms in which it is expressed
is "Interpretation.Interpretation of something means ascertaining the meaning or significance of that
thing or ascertaining an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious.
Construction and Interpretation of a statute is an age-old process and as old as
language.

Construction meaning
“Construction”, in simple words, is the mechanism by which the subjects draw conclusions that are
beyond the direct expression of the text. Upon evaluating the context of the words used in the
document or the laws, the courts draw conclusions. This approach is referred to as legal exposition.
There is a certain collection of facts pending before the court and the application of the conclusion of
these facts is the construction. The purpose is to assist the judicial body in assessing the legislature's
true aim. Its goal is also to assess the legal impact of the legal document.

9
Pooja kapur, interpretations of statutes and it’s rules,blog.ipleaders.in https://blog.ipleaders.in/rules-interpretation-
statutes/ last access on 1/10/21
Now lets talk about the difference between interpretation and construction,
In law, interpretation refers to revealing the true meaning of the laws' provisions and recognizing the
precise meaning of the terms used in any document.Interpretation refers to the linguistic meaning of
the legal text.In the case of the acceptance of the basic meaning of the document, the principle of
interpretation is referred to. Whereas Construction, on the other hand, refers to drawing conclusions
that are beyond the outright expression of the legal text from written documents.The purpose of the
construction is to assess the legal effect of the terms and the statute's written text.In the case that the
literal interpretation of the legal text results in misunderstanding, the construction principle is
introduced.

RULE OF INTERPRETATION
LITERAL RULE OF INTERPRETATION
It is the first rule of interpretation. According to this rule, the words used in this text are to be given
or interpreted in their natural or ordinary meaning. After the interpretation, if the meaning is
completely clear and unambiguous then the effect shall be given to a provision of a statute regardless
of what may be the consequences.The basic rule is that whatever the legislature,'s intention was  it
was expressed by words while making any provision and is therefore to be interpreted according to
the grammar rules. As the intention of the legislature is deduced from the words and language used,
it is the safest rule of interpretation of statutes.
The only duty of the court, “according to this rule, is to give effect if the language of the statute is
plain and if it has no business to examine the consequences that may arise. The only duty of the court
is to explain the law as it is and if there are any severe consequences, the remedy for it will be sought
and looked at by the legislature.”

“Manmohan Das against Bishan Das, AIR 1967 SC 643”10

The issue in the case concerned the interpretation of section 3(1)(c) of the U.P Rent and Eviction
Control Act, 1947. “In this case, if he has made an addition and alternate in the building without
proper authority and unauthorized perception as having significantly altered the accommodation or is
likely to decrease its value, a tenant was responsible for facts. The appellant argued that it is possible
to cover only the constitution, which reduces the value of the property and the term 'or' should be
read as land.It was concluded that the word 'or' should be given the sense that a wise man
understands the reasons for literal interpretation according to the law of literal interpretation.”

10
AIR 1967 SC 643
MISCHIEF RULE
The Mischief Law arose in the case of Heydon in 1584. It is the rule of purposeful construction
since, when implementing this rule, the purpose of this statute is most important. It is known as the
rule of Heydon because it was provided in Heydon's case in 1584 by Lord Poke. It is referred to as
the rule of mischief since the emphasis is on healing the mischief. In the case of Heydon, it was
concluded that four things must be followed for the real and sure reading of all the laws in general,
which are as follows—
“What was the common law before the making of an act.”
“What was the mischief for which the present statute was enacted.”
“What remedy did the Parliament sought or had resolved and appointed to cure the disease of the
commonwealth.The true reason of the remedy.The purpose of this rule is to suppress the mischief
and advance the remedy.”11
“Smith v. Huges, 1960 WLR 83012,”
This case was around the 1960s, the prostitutes were soliciting in the streets of London and it was
creating a huge problem in London. “This has caused a big issue in the preservation of law and order.
The Street Offences Act, 1959, was enacted to avoid this issue. The prostitutes began soliciting from
windows and balconies following the enactment of this act.In addition, pursuant to section 1(1) of
the said Act, prostitutes who continued to solicit from the streets and balconies were charged. But the
prostitutes were pleading that they had not been asked from the streets.”
The court held that although they were not soliciting from the streets, the mischief rule must still be
applied to prevent prostitutes from soliciting and will examine this issue. Thus, the court held that the
windows and balconies were taken to be an extension of the word street by applying this rule, and
the charge sheet was held to be right.

The defendant in this case, “Pyare Lal v. Ram Chandra”13, was convicted for selling the sweetened
supari, which was sweetened with the aid of an artificial sweetener. Under the “Food Adulteration
Act”, he was charged. “It was claimed by Pyare Lal that supari is not a food item. The court held that
the meaning of the dictionary is not always the right meaning, so the law of error must be applicable
and the interpretation advanced by the remedy must be taken into account. The court therefore held

11
Pooja kapur, interpretations of statutes and it’s rules,blog.ipleaders.in https://blog.ipleaders.in/rules-interpretation-
statutes/ last access on 1/10/21
12
1960 WLR 830
13
1979 WLN 591
that the term 'food' is consumable orally and by mouth. His indictment was, therefore, held to be
valid.”

GOLDEN RULE
As it solves all the problems of interpretation, it is known as the golden law. “However, if the
interpretation provided by the literal rule leads to any or some kind of misunderstanding, injustice,
inconvenience, suffering, inequity, beginning with the literal rule, then in all such cases the literal
meaning is discarded and interpretation is done in such a way that the object of the legislation is
fulfilled.The literal rule follows the concept of interpreting the natural meaning of the words used in
the statute. But if interpreting natural meaning leads to any sought of repugnance, absurdity or
hardship, then the court must modify the meaning to the extent of injustice or absurdity caused and
no further to prevent the consequence.”
This rule implies that the implications and results of interpretation deserve to be even more important
because they are the keys to the true sense and intent of the terms used by the legislature. Often,
when applying this law, the meaning can be quite the opposite of the literal rule, but because of the
golden rule, it must be justified. The presumption here is that such items are not intended by the
legislature. Any such interpretation leading to unintended objects shall, therefore, be refused.14

“Punjab v. Quiser Jehan Begum”, AIR 1963 SC 160415, a period of limitation was prescribed for
appeal, pursuant to section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1844, to be lodged within 6 months of
notification of the award. The award was given out on behalf of Quiser Jehan. After six months, she
was told about this by her lawyer. The appeal was lodged past the six-month time limit. The lower
courts have dismissed the appeal.The court held that the span of six months from the moment when
Quiser Jehan had the information was to be counted because the interpretation led to absurdity.

“Tirath Singh v. Bachittar Singh”, AIR 1955 SC 85016

There was a problem in this case with regard to the issuance of a notice pursuant to section 99 of the
“Representation of the People's Act, 1951”, “with regard to fraudulent election practices.In
compliance with the law, a notice shall be given to all persons who are party to a petition for under
the said clause, no such notice had been given to him.” Only those who were non-parties to the

14
Pooja kapur, interpretations of statutes and it’s rules,blog.ipleaders.in https://blog.ipleaders.in/rules-interpretation-
statutes/ last access on 1/10/21
15
AIR 1963 SC 1604
16
AIR 1955 SC 850
election petition were given notices. On this particular field, this was disputed as being invalid.The
court held that, even though it is provided twice, what is contemplated is the provision of the
information and the information remains the same. Accordingly, section 99 is therefore interpreted
by applying the golden rule that notice is required only against non-parties, because the party to the
petition already has a notice concerning the petition.

HARMONIOUS RULE
When two or more statues or two or more pieces of a statute clash,It is then appropriate to follow the
concept of harmonious construction. The rule meets a very high level of The basic presumption that
any statute has a law-based reason and meaning and should be  read as a whole. The meaning
compatible with all the provisions of the law should be followed. In the event that it is difficult to
harmonize the two clauses, the judgment of the court on the law shall prevail.The rule of harmonious
construction is the thumb rule for every statute's reading.An “interpretation which makes the
enactment a consistent whole, should be the aim of the Courts and a construction which avoids
inconsistency or repugnancy between the various sections or parts of the statute should be adopted.
The Courts should avoid “a head on clash”, in the words of the Apex Court, between the different
parts of an enactment and conflict between the various provisions should be sought to be
harmonized.”

“M.S.M Sharma v. Krishna Sinha, AIR 1959 SC 395”17

The facts are as follows: freedom of speech and expression is enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the
Constitution. Article 194(3) allows for the penalty of Parliament for its contempt and is referred to as
Parliamentary Privilege. “In this case, a newspaper editor released a word-for-word record of
Parliament's proceedings, including certain parts that were expunged from the record. The abuse of
parliamentary privilege was called for. He claimed that he had a constitutional right to speech and
expression.It was held by the court that article 19(1)(a) itself talks about reasonable freedom and
therefore freedom of speech and expression shall pertain only to those portions which have not been
expunged on the record but not beyond that.”

17
AIR 1959 SC 395
 CONCLUSION
Each nation has its own judicial system, the object of which is to provide everybody with justice.
The court seeks to interpret the law in such a way that justice for all is guaranteed by every person.
The definition of canons of interpretation was discussed in order to ensure justice for all. These are
the rules established to decide the legislature's true purpose. It is not sufficient that the terms used in
a law are necessarily plain, explicit and unambiguous and, therefore, it is very important for courts in
such cases to determine a clear and explicit interpretation of the words or phrases used by the
legislature and, if any, to eliminate all questions at the same time. We can say that vagueness and
ambiguity are unavoidable and are part of a lot of laws which is why it interpretation I so important.
Though there a lot of problems that arise when there is vagueness in law we cannot totally avoid it,
we can only clear the vagueness once the situation arise because one can only tell a law is vague
when someone questions it or the question comes before the court of law until then one does not
know but there will a few things that might vagueness and ambiguity to an extent, while at the time
of making of law the legislator can be precise and clear in his intentions and implications, he has to
make is in such a way that a common man can understand his language and try to avoid vague
sentences, this will reduce the problem to some extent. We can say that vagueness to a an extent is
fine but too much of it can be a threat.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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