Roll No.

– L13/LLB/193036

NAME - KALLOL GANAI

UNIVERSITY ROLL NUMBER - L13/LLB/193036

REGISTRATION NUMBER - 034798 of 1982-1983

INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES AND

NAME OF THE SUBJECT -
PRINCIPLES OF LEGISLATION
DATE OF INTERNAL ASSESSMENT - 15-06-2022

SEMESTER - VI

PAPER NUMBER - III

 Roll No. – L13/LLB/193036

Question No. 3 Discuss the Internal and External aids to Construction.

Answer:-

Internal Aids To Interpretation:

The words interpretation and construction are generally used synonymously even though
jurisprudentially they are perhaps different. Interpretation means the art of finding out the true sense of
an enactment by giving the words their natural and ordinary meaning whereas construction means
drawing conclusions on the basis of the true spirit of the enactment even though the same does not
appear if the words used in the enactment are given their natural meaning.
A statute has many other parts, such as the short title, long title, preamble, marginal notes,
headings, definition or interpretation clauses, provisos, illustrations, exceptions and saving clauses,
explanations, schedules and punctuation.
Short Title:
The short title of the Act is only its name and is given for the purpose of facility of reference. It
is merely a name given for identification of the Act and generally ends with the year of passing of the
Act, such as the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act,
1872, 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 Act to......... 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 Kedar Nath v. State of West Bengal, interpretation of Section 4 of the West Bengal
Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1949 was involved. Under this section, the State Government was
empowered to choose as to which particular case should go for reference to the Special Court to be
tried under a special procedure. This was challenged as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The
Supreme Court rejected the contention and held, inter alia, that the long title of the Act which said An
Act to provide for the more speedy trial and more effective punishment of certain offences was clear
enough to give the Government a discretion as to which offences deserved to be tried by the special
courts under a special procedure.

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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 considered by the courts as an internal aid to interpretation. It is
said that preamble is the key to open the mind of the legislature.
The preamble is not, however, of the same weight as an aid to construction of a section of the
Act as are other relevant enacting words to be found elsewhere in the Act or even in related Acts. There
may be no exact correspondence between preamble and enactment, and the enactment may go beyond,
or it may fall short of the indications that may be gathered from the preamble.
If they admit of only one construction, that construction will receive effect even if it is
inconsistent with the but if the enacting words are capable of either of the constructions offered by the
parties, the construction which fits the preamble may be preferred.
In State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali, the constitutionality of Section 5 of the West Bengal
Special Courts Act, 1950 was involved vis-a-vis Article 14 of the Constitution. This provision
authorised the State Government to select the particular cases which deserved to be tried by the special
courts having followed special procedure. The preamble of the Act reads: Whereas it 'is expedient to
provide for the speedier trial of certain offences................ The Supreme Court held that the language of
the particular provision as well as the preamble clearly and unambiguously vested discretion in the
State Government to choose as to which cases should go before the special courts for a speeder trial
under a special procedure and, therefore, the particular provision was perfectly legitimate and
constitutional.
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 are 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.
In Bengal Immunity Company v. State of Bihar, the Supreme Court, by a majority, held
that the marginal notes to Article 286 of the Constitution was a part of the Constitution and, therefore,
it could be relied on to furnish a clue to the purpose and meaning of that Article. The marginal note to
Article 286 of the Constitution is : Restrictions as to imposition of tax on the sale or purchase of goods,
which, unlike the marginal notes in the Acts, in the British Parliament, is part of the Constitution as
passed by the Constituent Assembly, and prima facie, furnishes some clue as to the meaning and
purpose of the Article. However, VenkataramaAyyar, J. in his minority judgment held that the marginal

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note to Article 286 (1) (a) cannot be referred to for construing the explanation and is clearly
inadmissible for cutting down the plain meaning of the words of the Constitution.
Headings:
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 heading, but where the meaning of an enactment is clear and unambiguous,
heading has no role to play in its interpretation.
In Iqbal Singh Marwah v. Meenakshi Marwah, the Supreme Court remarked that though as
a general rule the language employed in a heading cannot be used to give a different effect to clear
words of the section where there cannot be any doubt as to their ordinary meaning, but they are not to
be treated as if they were marginal notes or were introduced into the Act merely for the purpose of
classifying the enactments. They constitute an important part of the Act itself and may be read not only
as explaining the sections which immediately follow them, as a preamble to a statute may be looked to
explain its enactments, but as affording a better key to the constructions of the sections which follow
them than might to afforded by a mere preamble.

Definition or Interpretation Clauses:

Definition or interpretation clauses are generally included in a statute with the purpose of
extending the natural meaning of some words as per the definition given or to interpret such words, the
meanings of which are not clear, by assigning them the meaning given in the definition clause.
Generally, the meaning given to a particular word in the interpretation clause will be given to that word
wherever it is used in that statute.
Whenever the word means or means and includes are used in the definition clause, they afford
an exhaustive explanation of the word in the statute. The word includes is generally used in the
definition clause to enlarge the ordinary and natural meaning of that particular word. In M/s.
Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories v. Deputy Labour Commissioner, the Supreme Court observed
that when an interpretation clause uses the word 'includes', it is prima facie extensive. When it uses the
words 'means and includes', it will afford an exhaustive explanation to the meaning which for the
purposes of the Act must invariably be attached to the word or expression.

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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 scope of 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 prevail over the main enactment on the principle that it speaks the last
intention of the legislature.
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. Leeds Prison (Governor), that the main part of an enactment cannot be so interpreted
as to render its proviso unnecessary and ineffective.
To sum up, a proviso may serve four different purposes:-
(i) qualify or exception certain provisions from the main enactment;
(ii) it may entirely change the very concept or the intendment of the enactment by insisting on
certain mandatory conditions to be fulfilled in order to make the enactment workable;
(iii) It may be so embedded in the Act itself as to become an integral part of the enactment and
thus acquire the tenor and colour of the substantive enactment itself; and
(iv) it may be used merely to act as an optional addenda to the enactment with the sole object of
explaining the real intendment of the statutory provision.
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 Acts 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 clear cannot be given an extended or a restricted
meaning on the basis of illustrations appended therein.
In Jumma Masjid v. Kodimaniandra, the Supreme Court, while looking at the illustration
to Section 43 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, observed that it is not to be readily assumed that an
illustration to a section is repugnant to it and rejected. It was held that this section is applicable to
spessuccessionis and if other conditions of the section are satisfied the transferee is entitled to claim the
property.

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A very large number of judicial pronouncements have been made on the basis of the cumulative
effect of Section 114 illustration (b) and Section 133 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The former
reads, 'The court may presume that an accomplice is unworthy of credit, unless he is corroborated in
material particulars'. While the latter states that 'an accomplice shall be a competent witness against an
accused person; and a conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated
testimony of an accomplice'. It has been held almost consistently that conviction of an accused on the
uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice is not good at law and that corroboration must be
independent and must relate to the accused's participation in the crime.
Exceptions and Saving Clauses:
Exceptions are generally added to an enactment with the purpose of exempting something
which would otherwise fall within the ambit of the main provision. For instance, as many as five
exceptions have been added to Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code which defines 'murder’.
Saving clauses are generally appended in cases of repeal and re-enactment of a statute. By this
the rights already created under repealed enactment ate not disturbed nor new rights are created by it. A
saving clause is normally inserted in the repealing statute. In case of a clash between the main part of
statute and a saving clause, the saving clause has to be rejected.
In Collector of Customs v. M/s. Modi Rubber Limited, the Supreme Court held that
whenever there is a provision in the nature of an exception to the principal clause thereof; it must be
construed with regard to that principal clause.

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.
The mere circumstance that a provision in the Constitution will, on a proper construction, take
effect on the happening of a future event can, by itself, be no ground for not giving effect to the plain
language of that provision. The fact that the explanation to Article 286(1)(a) in so far as it relates to
inter-State sales may not have an immediate operation until Parliament lifts the ban under clause (2)
need not unnecessarily oppress or lead the court to adopt a forced construction only to give the whole
of it an immediate and present operation.
In Bihta Co-operative Development Cane Marketing Union v. State of Bihar, the Supreme
Court said that in case of a conflict between the main provision and the explanation attached to it, the
general duty of the court is to try to harmonise the two.

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Schedules:
Schedules attached to an Act generally deals 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 schedule
may contain some subjects in the form of list as is the case with the Constitution of India to enable the
Union and the states to legislate in their respective fields. Schedules are parts of the Statute itself and
may be looked into by the courts for the purpose of interpreting the main body of the statute.
In M/s. Aphali Pharmaceuticals Limited v. State of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court held
that in case of a clash between the schedule and the main body of an Act, the main body prevails and
the schedule has to be rejected. The court decided that Ashvagandharist, an ayurvedic medicinal
preparation containing self-generated alcohol but not capable of being consumed as ordinary alcoholic
beverage, would be exempt from excise duty.
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.
In Aswini Kumar v. Arabinda Bose, 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.

External Aids To Interpretation:

Other than the internal aids to interpretation which are parts of the statute itself there are other
aids which are not parts of the statute. These are known as external aids, such as dictionaries,
textbooks, historical background, legislative history and practice-judicial, conveyancing, administrative
and commercial. The question is, can these be used as external aids to interpretation?
Dictionaries:
Words used in a statute should be interpreted in the light of their ordinary sense. To find out the
ordinary sense of the words, dictionaries can naturally be of help. Dictionaries can, therefore, be
consulted by the courts whenever the need arises to know the ordinary sense of a word. But the courts
must be careful because it is not necessary that dictionary meanings of a word may be the true meaning
in a particular context.
Diverse meanings of words are given in a dictionary. It is very difficult for a court to choose the
correct meaning out of the same. Under these circumstances the context in which the word has been

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used becomes very important. The court should, therefore, always keep in mind the context in which a
word has been used while choosing the correct meaning of that word.
In Balram Kumawat v. Union of India the Supreme Court remarked that where the object
of the Parliament was to ban not only trade in imported elephant ivory but ivory of every description
under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 as amended by Act, 44 of 1991 vide Section 49-C, the word
ivory will include ivory of every description imbedding mammoth ivory as is clear from the dictionary
meaning of the word ivory.
Text Books:
Text books may be referred to by the courts to arrive at the true meaning of an enactment. It is,
however, not necessary that the views expressed therein are the views of the court also. There have
been instances of both acceptance and rejection by the courts of the opinions expressed in text books.
Manu, Yajnavalkya, Vijnaneswar, Jimutvahan and Kautilya have been frequently quoted by courts with
approval. Mulla has also been referred time and again.
In Kesavanand Bharathi v. State of Kerala, a large number of text books were quoted but
most of the Judges of the Supreme Court deciding this case were of the opinion that in view of many
opinions and counter-opinions it was not desirable to follow the opinions and that the safest course for
the court was to interpret keeping in mind always the whole context of the issues.
Historical background:
The court is at liberty to look into the history of the law and legislation and to seek help from
other historical facts which in the opinion of the court, will be necessary to get to the true meaning of
an enactment. It may also consider whether an Act was intended to change the law or to leave the law
undisturbed. But the court should be careful not to enter into the legislative field by giving an
interpretation which it only thinks was perhaps in the mind of the legislature but which is not otherwise
inferable from the words of the statute.
In Express Newspapers Private Limited v. Union of India, the Supreme Court clearly
stated that history of legislation and other like external sources may be looked into by a court in case of
ambiguity.
Legislative History:
In the past the courts used to look at the legislative history of a statute occasionally to know its
true context. But the modern views seems to be that it is not permissible as an aid to interpretation. The
legislative debates on the floor of the Houses, reports of the Select Committees and the statements of
objects and reasons are, therefore, inadmissible as aids to interpretation.

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The basis of this rule seems to be that whatever was in the mind of the legislators has been
b
already expressed through words and further, that any attempt on the part of the legislators to influence
courts with their individual views must be resisted.
In A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, the Supreme Court while disallowing a speech to be
considered
ered as an aid to interpretation, observed that a speech made in the course of the debate on a Bill
could at best be indicative of the subjective intent of the Speaker, but it could not reflect the inarticulate
mental process lying behind the majority vote which carried the Bill. Nor is it reasonable to assume that
the minds of all those legislators were in accord
accord.
Practice Judicial, Conveyancing, Administrative and Commercial:
Though administrative practice generally is not recognised as an aid to interpretation, it has
occasionally been given weight by the courts
courts.. On the other hand, practice of eminent conveyancers
have frequently been given much respect by the courts. Commercial practice or usage as it is called
have also been thoughtt important as aid to interpretation
interpretation.. The court in Re Holt's Settlement, accepted a
particular view of judicial practice while passing an order under Section 1 of the Variation of Trusts
Act, 1958 and observed that 'it accords with the practice which has bbeen
een relied on for many years in
some thousands of cases."
In Pilkington v. 1.R.C., the court accepted the views and practice of eminent conveyances
while referring to Section 342 of the Trustee Act, 1925 and observed that it makes it more natural to
refer to these material with a view to correctly interpret a provision
provision.
Conclusion:-
It is important to know as to whether the parts as discussed can be of any help to the courts in
the interpretation of a section. In other words, the question is whether they ca
cann act as internal aids to
interpretation.
A new trend is emerging about external aids to interpretation
interpretation.. The Courts have been inclined
lately to take advantage of every available material which may be helpful in understanding the
intention of the legislature. In Pepper v. Hart
Hart,, the House of Lords ruled: "Reference to parliamentary
material should be permitted
ed as an aid to the construction of legislation which is ambiguous or obscure
or the literal meaning of which leads to absurdity. Even in such cases references in court to
parliamentary material should only be permitted where such material clearly discloses
disclose the mischief
aimed at or the legislative intention lying behind the ambiguous of obscure words.”

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