“DOCTRINE OF BENEFICIAL CONSTRUCTION: A STUDY”

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

COURSE INTERPRETATION OF STATUTE AND PRINCIPLES OF LEGISLATIONS
(ISPL) FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) FOR THE
ACADEMIC SESSION 2021-2022.

SUBMITTED BY
NAME – KINJAL
KEYA
ROLL NO. – 2121
SUBMITTED TO
DR. PETER LADIS F.

SEPTEMBER, 2021
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NYAYA
NAGAR, MITHAPUR, PATNA- 800001

1
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), project report entitled
“DOCTRINE OF BENEFICIAL CONSTRUCTION: A STUDY” submitted at
CHANAKYA
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY is an authentic record of my work carried out under the
supervision of DR. PETER LADIS F. I have not submitted this work for any other degree or
diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my project report.

(Signature of the

Candidate) KINJAL KEYA

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any project completed or done in isolation is unthinkable. This project, although prepared by
me, is a culmination of efforts of a lot of people.

Firstly, I would like to thank our teacher DR. PETERLADIS F. for his valuable suggestions
towards the making of this project.

Further to that, I would also like to express my gratitude towards my seniors who were a lot of
help for the completion of this project.

The contribution made by my classmates and friends are, definitely, worth mentioning. I would
like to express my gratitude towards my family members help also.

Last, but far from the least, I would express my gratitude towards the Almighty for obvious
reasons.

Thank You.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 – Introduction….........................................................................................5
● Aims and Objectives
● Research Questions
● Hypothesis
● Research Methodology
● Review of literature
● Sources of Data
● Scope of the study
● Limitations of the study

CHAPTER 2 –Strict versus Liberal Interpretation.........................................................8

CHAPTER 3 – Beneficial Construction........................................................................10
CHAPTER 4 – Nature and Limitation of Beneficial Construction................................15
CHAPTER 5 – Beneficial Contstruction of Welfare Statute..........................................19
CHAPTER 6 – Conclusion and Suggestion…................................................................21
Bibliography

4
 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

The word ‘Interpretation’ is derived from the Latin term ‘interpretari’ which means to explain or
expound or to understand or translate. Interpretation is a process through which one arrives at the
true and correct intention of the law-making body which is laid in the form of statutes. This helps
in finding out the intention of the author.

A statute is an edict of the legislature1 and the conventional way of interpreting a statute is to
seek the 'intention' of its maker. It is the judicature's duty to act upon the true intention of the
legislature. The function of the courts is only to expound and not to legislate. The Court is not
expected to interpret arbitrarily and therefore there have been certain principles which have
evolved out of the continuous exercise by the Courts

Usually, the interpretation of the statute is done by the judges, it is the primary function of the
judge as a judicial head. As we all know that our government is divided into three important
wings which are: Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. Here legislature lays down the law and
intends people to act according to the legislature and the judiciary that is judges will come up
with the proper meaning of the law and puts the law into operation. This helps in maintaining
checks and balances between the wings. Interpretation means the art of finding out the true sense
of an enactment by giving the words of the enactment their natural and ordinary meaning. It is
the process of ascertaining the true meaning of the words used in a statute. These principles are
sometimes called ‘rules of interpretation’. The object of interpretation of statutes is to determine
the intention of the legislature conveyed expressly or impliedly in the language used.

There is need of interpretation because sometimes there will be words that have more than one
meaning. And it may not be clear which meaning has to be used. There could be multiple
interpretations made out of it or there may be new developments happening in a society that is
not taken into consideration, this lacks the predictability of the future event, etc. To avoid further
ambiguities legislation has provided us with the primary rules of interpretations.

1
Vishnu Pratap Sugar works (private) ltd. v. Chief Inspector of Stamp, U.P., AIR 1968 SC 102, p. 104

5
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

To study about the doctrine of beneficial construction.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1. What is the purpose of doctrine of beneficial construction?

2. Whether all the legislations are beneficially constructed by the court?
HYPOTHESES:

 Beneficial legislation receives liberal interpretation from the courts than any other
methods of interpretation.
 Doctrine of beneficial construction is a tendency rather than a rule.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The researcher will be confining to doctrinal method of research only under which the
researcher has relied upon existing literature depending upon library and online resources.

LITERATURE REVIEW
BOOKS
 N.S. BINDRA, “INTERPRETATION OF STATUTE”, (LEXIS NEXIS PUBLICATION
, 12TH EDITION, 2017)

The authors in this book discusses the theoretical meaning of the beneficial legislation. The
authors also discuss this with help of many case laws. It grasps the essence of the needs of
beneficial construction.

 G.P. SINGH, “PRINCIPLE OF STATUTORY INTERPRETATION” (LEXIS NEXIS

PUBLICATION, 14TH EDITION, 2016 )

6
 The authors in this books gives the overview of interpretation, it provides detailed
information on meaning of interpretation and its different methods. The author also briefly
discussed about beneficial legislation, its nature and limitations. The discussion on the
importance beneficial legislation was precisely given.

ARTICLES

 JEFFREY W. STEMPEL, "THE INSURANCE POLICY AS STATUTE"

(2010). SCHOLARLY WORKS.

The author analyzes the liberal interpretation of statutes. It talks about different methods in
which liberal interpretation is allowed and how the court of law do follows it.

 PRIYADARSHINI CHANDRASMITA, CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON

INTERPRETATION OF BENEFICIAL LEGISLATION (2021)

The author in this article mainly focuses on the interpretation of beneficial legislations, and also
draws the attention on the confine powers of court and powers of legislature in these kinds of
legislations.

SOURCES OF THE STUDY:

The researcher will rely upon both the primary and secondary sources of data. The primary being
Acts, Statutes and Case Laws and the secondary being books and websites.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The researcher has tried his best to make this research topic beneficial for the legal system amd
also for the benefits of other students for study and research.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

Though the researcher will try her level best not to leave any stone unturned in doing this project
work to highlight various aspects relating to the topic, but the topic is so dynamic field of law,
the researcher will sight with some of unavoidable limitations. The limitations encountered by
the researcher were the paucity of time and restrainment of going out due to Covid-19.

7
 CHAPTER-2

STRICT VERSUS LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION

Strict Construction means each of the words in Statute should be interpreted by letter, and no
regard should be had to the spirit beyond the statute. Strict constructionists often look only at the
literal meaning of the words in question, or at their historical meaning at the time the law was
written. This is also referred as "strict interpretation" or "original intent," because a person who
follows the doctrine of strict construction tries to ascertain the intent of the framers at the time
the document was written by considering what the language they used meant at that time. Strict
construction occurs when ambiguous language is given its exact and technical meaning no other
equitable consideration or reasonable implications are made.
The courts should recognize limitations on their powers in interpreting statutes. They should
recognize that the legislature is supreme and must be followed to the extent that it has passed
laws which are clear and constitutional. The courts should recognize that the legislature has
become the most important lawmaker on major policy questions.
Certainty in the law enables planning of human affairs in reliance on the law, and the realization
of expectations based on such planning. The purpose of strict construction was to mitigate the
rigor of such harsh sentences and sweeping condemnations. In the State of Jharkhand v. Ambay
Cements2, it was held as follows, ‘(a) Provision of exemption should be strictly construed. It is
not open to Court to ignore the conditions prescribed in the exemption notification (b) Mandatory
rule must be strictly followed, while substantial compliance might suffice in a directory rule (c)
Whenever the statute prescribed that a particular act is to be done in a particular manner and also
lays down that failure to comply with the said requirement leads to severe consequences, such
requirement is mandatory (d) It is the cardinal rule of the interpretation that where a statute
provides that a particular thing should be done, it should be done in the manner prescribed and
not in any other way (e) Where a statute is penal in character, it must be strictly construed and
followed
Generally, taxing and penal statutes are strictly construed.

2
2004 AIR SCW 6703

8
In a taxing statute, one has to look at what is clearly said. There is no equity about a tax. There is
no intention. There is no presumption as to tax. Nothing is to be read in, nothing to be implied3.
The Criminal Statutes must not be enlarged by implication or intent beyond the fair meaning of
the language used or the meaning that is reasonably justified by its terms. Criminal statutes shall
not be eligible to encompass offences other than those clearly described and provided for in their
language. Rule of strict construction of a regulatory/penal statute may not be adhered to, if
thereby the plain intention of the Parliament to combat crimes of special nature would be
defeated.4

Liberal or beneficial Construction means the interpretation should be made liberally with the
intention to advance the purpose or object of the statute. A literal interpretation involves reading
the statute and applying it word by word as the statute states. Nothing is presupposed or derived
from the words apart from the exact meaning that it adheres to. This does not mean that the
statute should be read as narrowly as possible, in a restrictive sense. It suggests that the scope of
the statute should not extend beyond the literal meaning of its terms.5
Liberal construction only means that the words of the statute should be constructed so that they
can be interpreted in a fair, reasonable manner adhering to the spirit of the law. In application of
liberal construction, the interpreter cannot, however, construct the words so as to read into the
statute something that is clearly rejected through the plain meaning of the words. Legislation
having a socio-economic perspective ought to be interpreted with the widest possible
connotation, as otherwise, the intention of the legislature would stand frustrated.
The hospital was not treated as ‘industry’ by Supreme Court for purpose of the Customs Act 6 –
However, in Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board v. R Rajjappa7, the hospital was
considered as ‘Industry’ for purposes of the Industrial Disputes Act. ID Act is benevolent
legislation for benefit of workmen and a liberal definition was preferred (apart from the fact that
the definition of Industry’ in the Industrial Disputes Act is very broad and wide).

3
Datey VS. Interpretation of statute, Taxmann publication,
taxmann+interpretation+of+statutes+PDF&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIN918IN918&sxsrf
4
Balram Kumawat v. UOI, AIR SC 4658
5
https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.2139%2Fssrn.2290872, (21st August, 2022)
6
MS Company (P.) Ltd. v. UOI-1985(19) ELT 15 (SC).
9
7
AIR 1978 SC 548

10
 CHAPTER -3

BENEFICIAL
CONSTRUCTION: MEANING

Interpreting a statute is to fundamentally making sense of the law. It is a process through which
courts interpret the legislation to provide a better understanding of the laws, and ascertain the
true meaning of the statutes. Courts are required to understand the meaning or intent behind a
law that is essentially relevant to a case and apply the meaning in meting out the judgment
accordingly. The object is to determine the intention of the legislature conveyed expressly or
impliedly in the language used. Statutes need to be interpreted when there is a conflict between
the literal meaning of the word and the purpose or object of the statute as a whole. Thus, such a
need only arises when the language is ambiguous.

One of the central component of the interpretation is the beneficial construction.

The principle or doctrine of beneficial legislation, also known as beneficial construction of

statutes, is a principle in the legal domain, which aims at interpreting and applying the words of a
legal statute in the widest possible way, to the benefit of the class of persons or parties affected
by it. It is ascertained about beneficial legislation that –

Statutes which purport to confer benefit on individuals or a class of persons, by relieving them of
onerous obligations under contracts entered into by them; or which tend to protect persons from
oppressive acts of individuals with whom they stand in certain relations, are called beneficial
legislations.8

When two or more views are possible, then it is duty of court to interpret a provision, especially a
beneficial legislation, liberally so as to give it wide meaning rather than a restrictive meaning.
Therefore in the cases where there is two or more meanings this rule will apply as per Maxwell’s
observation. According to him – “It is said to be the duty of the judge to make such construction
of a statute as shall suppress the mischief and advance the remedy. Even where the usual
meaning of the language falls short of the whole object of the Legislature, a more extended
meaning may be attributed to the words, if fairly susceptible of it.”9

8
Bindra, N.S., “ Interpretation of Statute”, (2017) page no. 797
9
Maxwell, Sir Peter Benson, “On The Interpretation of Statutes” (2007) page no. 123
11
If the common purpose of a Statute is to provide benefit to a particular class of persons, and that
Statute contains such contradictory provisions provide benefit to a certain specific class and other
are harmful, then that provision shall be accepted ‘, which provide benefit to the specific class. In
case of interpretations leading to a different meaning that interpretation shall be accepted which
is in accordance to the interests of particular class.10

There are no well-set principles of beneficial interpretation but in general, the words of a statute
are accorded the widest, most reasonable and just interpretation. A legislation cannot be liberally
interpreted beyond the legislative intent11 or to frustrate the statutory purpose12 or doing violence
to the language or virtually rewrite the provision 13 or when statute is unambiguously pointing out
the intention of legislature.14

Perhaps the most powerful implication of the doctrine of beneficial legislation is that it grants
power to a word or a phrase and widens its context within meaning to attempt a harmonious
balance between conflicting interests. In this sense, a beneficial construction simply harmonious
interpretation of statutes. It saves the language of a statute from getting assigned too narrow a
meaning, especially when the meaning, when taken literally, may lead to absurd or ambiguous
conclusions or in a direction not intended by the legislators.

In the landmark case of B Shah v Presiding Officer, Labour Court15, court applied beneficent rule
of construction in construing section 5 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which makes the
employer liable to pay maternity benefit to woman worker at the rate of average daily wage for
the period of her actual absence immediately preceding and including the day of her delivery and
for six weeks immediately following that day. The court held that Sundays must also be included
and held that the Act was intended not only to subsist but also make up for her dissipated energy
and take care of child. The Act was read in the light of Article 42.

Beneficial Construction of statutes have enormously played an important role in the development
and beneficial interpretation of socio – economic legislations and have always encouraged the

10
Mahadev Lal v/s State of West Bengal (A.I.R 1960S C. 936)
11
Dalco Engineering Private Limited v. Satish Prabhakar Padhye AIR 2010 SC 1576
12
Bhavnagar University v. Palitana Sugar Mill Private Limited AIR 2003 SC511
13
Shivram v. Radhabai AIR 1984 SC786
14
Anadilal v. Ram Narain AIR 1984 SC 1383
15
Labour Court AIR 1978 SC 12

12
Indian legislators to make more laws in favor of the poor and backward class of people in India.
Laws which are enacted with the object of promoting general welfare and facing urgent social
demands receive beneficial legislations.

In the case of Hindustan Level Ltd v Ashok Vishnu Kate 16, the court held that in a case related to
prevention of unfair labor practice, during interpreting social welfare legislation, a construction
should be placed on the relevant provisions which furthers the purpose for which such legislation
was enacted.

Over the years the Indian judiciary has ensured that labor laws are interpreted liberally to take
into account the welfare of the working class. Law relating to labor or employment, have always
stressed advancement of social equality and justice. In cases such as, State of Haryana and Ors.
V. Pooja Devi17 the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that the employee of the government,
as a guest teacher, was entitled for a maternity leave per the terms of Government instructions, as
she met the condition of completing three months of continuous service on contract, even if there
was a break in her service term owing to summer vacations. Here, the Court opined that since it
was the State’s policy to not engage Guest Teachers during the summer vacations, the ‘break in
service’ was not an intentional break.

Another example where Indian judiciary used beneficiary construction is on a statute of the
Juvenile Justice Act. The earlier act of 1986 was amended to 2000 act. Wherein the 1986 act
defined the term ‘juvenile’ as a boy not having attained sixteen years of age or a girl not having
attained the age of eighteen years, but the 2000 act defined juvenile to mean a person who has
not completed eighteen years of age. This issue came up for a consideration before the
Constitution Bench in the case of Pratap Singh v State of Jharkhand 18. The Court looked into the
object of the act, which is to provide for the care, protection treatment, development and
rehabilitation of neglected and delinquent juveniles. Further the acts were passed in discharge of
obligation to follow the United Nations Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
justice. Since the acts were remedial in nature, beneficial construction was given to promote the
beneficent object behind them.

16
Hindustan Level Ltd v Ashok Vishnu Kate (1995) SCC 1385 (L&S)
17
State of Haryana and Others v. Pooja Devi, CM No.3489-LPA of 2012, High Court Punjab and Haryana
18
Pratap Singh v State of Jharkhand (2005) 3 SCC 551

13
Another great application of beneficial interpretation that has served to promote judicial fairness
and rigor in what is commonly known in legal jargon as the ‘retrospective effect of law’ or ‘ex-
post facto law’. In simple terms, it is a change or amendment in a law that changes the legal
consequences of the illegal acts committed by someone before the enactment of the law or its
amendment19. In Harikishan v. Union of India20, the petitioner’s request to quash criminal
proceedings against them, filed under a section of the Income Tax Act, 1961, that was no longer
in force once it was omitted by the Taxation Laws (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act, 1986, was upheld by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In a similar case, the Court extended
the rule of beneficial construction to reason that no person should be convicted for any offense
except for the violation of a law in force or should be punished beyond the penalty greater than
which the enforceable law states.

If the law that replaces the existing law calls for a reduced punishment, the person accused is
entitled to the benefit from it. However, a retrospective law is not without its fair share of critics
and controversy; and the doctrine of beneficial legislation in a case of an ex-post facto law has to
be considered on a case by case basis and in limited instances, although the underlying principle
of liberal interpretation still remains valid.

The effect of a beneficial legislation should not be construed to be defeated by subsequent

legislation except through a clear provision21 The rights of minor children to get maintenance
from their father as provided in Section 127 of CrPC was construed not to have been taken away
in respect of Muslims by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986
section 3(b) which enabled a Muslim woman to claim maintenance for the minor children upto
the age of two years only from her former husband. It was held by the court that the right of
children to claim maintenance under CrPC was independent of right of divorced mother to claim
maintenance for the infant children and former is not affected by 1986 Act.

Essentially, the doctrine of beneficial construction holds that a liberal interpretation of a statute
concerning a case should be so applied as to confer the best possible relief and protection that the
statute can give to the persons and parties under consideration. At its heart, the principle aims at

19
Construction of statutes, https://indianjudiciarynotes.com/interpretation-of-statutes/the-principle-of-beneficial-
construction-of-statute/, (11:21pm at 22nd August, 2022)
20
Harikishanaav. Union of India; Misc. Criminal Case No. 2448, 1994
21
Noor Saba Khatoon v Mohd. Quasim AIR 1997 SC 3280

14
widening the circle of legal fairness and justice for the weak, while keeping true to the words of a
statute and without violating the ‘legislative intent’ behind the statute.

15
 CHAPTER-4

NATURE AND LIMITATIONS OF BENEFICIAL CONSTRUCTION

 NATURE
The nature of beneficial construction is remedial in nature as it applies to suppress the mischief
and facilitates the remedy. This rule is applying from starting to prevent statutes from becoming
nullities or failing to achieve their purposes on account of unskillful or inartistic drafting. 22 The
basic characteristics of this doctrine is that it receives liberal construction and the ambiguousness
is resolved in the favors of the persons for whose benefit the statute is enacted.

Due to its nature as remedial, beneficial statutes, as the name implies, were those designed to
provide rights, privileges, or entitlements to segments of the public or to the public as a whole.
Today, such laws are commonly referred to as remedial and are subject to the canon of
construction that remedial legislation is to be liberally construed in order to effectuate its
purpose.23

While deciding the case of Kala v. Union of India24 on matter related to compensation for a
railway accident the Court held that the word ‘Untoward incident’ include the accidental falling
while trying to board a train, and was not limited to situations where a person got inside and fell
off thereafter. In this case the court held the Railways Act as beneficial legislation and thus it
should be given liberal and not literal or strict interpretation.

In other case the Supreme Court held that welfare Statute must necessarily receive a broad
interpretation25. In this case the Supreme Court upheld the jurisdiction of the Labor Court even in
circumstances where actual orders of dismissal had not passed and it was held that where the
case is related to prevention of unfair labor practices construction should be effectuates which
serves the purpose for which legislation is enacted.

Even if it is remedial in nature but it does not go beyond the statute’s scope and there is no such
rule that beneficial construction is always retrospective in operation, unless legislation either
expressly or by necessary intendment is not made retrospective.

22
Bindra, N.S., “Interpretation of Statute”, (2017) at pg. 800
23
Stempel, Jeffrey W., "The Insurance Policy as Statute" (2010). Scholarly Works. 236.
24
Kala v. Union of India ILR (2011) III Del 266

16
25
Hindustan Lever Ltd. v. Ashok Vishnu Kate (1995) SCC 1385

17
In the case of Mangilal v. Sugan Chand while analyzing the dispute related to sub section 1 of
section 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, 1953, the Supreme Court refused
to apply the beneficial construction and held in clear terms that ‘The material thing under Section
4(a) was whether the tenant had paid up the arrears within one month from the date on which the
notice of demand had been served on him. If he did, no suit lie; if he did not, a suit will lie.’26
So, the value of express provision remains even in such interpretation and its non – compliance
have the effect of nullifying it. It is true beneficial provisions have to be envisages the
conferment of benefit limited in point of time and subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions,
there non- compliance will have the effect of nullifying the benefit.27

It can be concluded that it is general tendency of remedial statute to be interpreted as per

beneficial construction rule as it is already stated above every legislation is made to suppress the
mischief and in such cases the Court favor the persons for whose benefit the statute is enacted.
All this is done via liberal interpretation but not going outside the scope of the Act and without
the violation of the words. However one of the important requirement of getting benefit via
beneficial construction is that one should fulfil the condition and comply with the statutory
requirement28. The reason is that this principle is based on human tendency to be fair,
accommodating, and just. Instead of restricting the people from getting the benefit of the statute,
Court tends to include as many classes as it can while remaining faithful to the wordings of the
statute.

 LIMITATIONS
The beneficial construction is a tendency used by court in interpreting the beneficial statutes in
wider sense but the glaring question is till what statutes can be interpreted. The duty of judicially
never considered as legislating the laws and the only competent authority that have power to
make laws are legislators. Whatever laws made by legislators are presumed to be valid and it is
presumed that they neither put unnecessary words and nor put less words than needed while
making a

26
AIR 1965 SC 101
27
Bindra, N.S., “ Interpretation of Statute”, (2017) at pg. 798
18
 Interpretation of beneficial statute, http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1941/Harmonious-and-Beneficial-
28

Construction..htmL, (10:08pm, 23rd August, 2022)

19
legislations. Liberal construction must flow from the language used only. This also applies to the
beneficial construction.

Principle of beneficial construction has to be applied with a few safeguards. It can only be
applied without “rewriting or doing violence to the enactment”. When the language is clear and
explicit, it leaves little scope for any bending of interpretation.29

In the Maruti Udyog case, the Constitution Bench held that no provisions of act provided for
absorption of contract labour on issuance of a notification under Section 10 prohibiting
employment of contract labour, “Sympathy cannot be a sole principle guiding interpretation.”30

In the Employees State Insurance Act 1948, Section 53 provided that an insured person or his
dependents will not be entitled to ‘any compensation or damages’ under the Workmen’s
Compensation Act 1923 or any other law for the time being in force or otherwise in respect of an
employment injury. This was held to bar even claim for compensation of damages in Torts
although the Act is a beneficial legislation.31

Also, non-compliances with the certain conditions supposed to do in the legislation would be
nullifying the effect, except in certain cases like noncompliance with limitation Act, mere
sympathy is not at all any guiding principle for interpretation32 as decided in case of western
India plywood case.

The courts are allowed to construct statute for giving it more wider meaning but it is not true in
the cases where the languages of the statute is plain and free from ambiguity, and expresses a
single, definite, and sensible meaning.

The judiciary are authorized to judge the law and legislatures are authorized to make legislations
and it is actually based on the concepts of separation of powers. That is why both of them are not
allowed to interfere in each other works, i.e. legislature are not supposed to do judicial work and
judiciary are not supposed to do legislative work. The actual scrutiny on judicial work arise when
courts interpret different types of laws. On other hand some legislation is made with some
mischief and legislative words sometimes becomes unambiguous or having no single meaning
despite the
29
Steel Authority of India Ltd, National Union Water Front Workers AIR 2001 SC 3527
30
Maruti Udyog Ltd. v Remlap (2005) 2 SCC 638
31
Western India Plywood Ltd. v P Ashokan AIR 1997 SC 3883

20
32
Singh, G.P., “Principle of Statutory Interpretation” (2016) pg. 634

21
fact that it is made with some legislative purpose and they have not intended that such ambiguity
will arise. In such circumstances judiciary have to find the intention of the legislators through
various methods and techniques of interpretation. The Beneficial construction being one of the
subsidiary rule of interpretation applies as per the statutes and not applicable with every statues
in general. It is already known that every legislations are made for the benefit and also that now
every modern legislation are remedial legislation then it means the power of court rises in
deciding whether any Act is Beneficial Statutes or beneficial construction would apply. However
again the court would not go beyond the intention of legislature while enlarging the connotation
of any disputed words or phrases.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court held in Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K. Gupta33 that
housing construction was a service within the meaning of section 2(o) of consumer protection
Act, 1986 and later through 1993 amendment the Act was amended and accordance with this
judgment ‘housing construction’ was added as service in the Act. This can be example of both in
form of justice as well as judicial decision beyond the legislator’s objective. Since this was
adopted through later amendment in Act as well, so it seems to be positive but many other times
it may become against the spirit. Actually there is no beneficial result to the discussion that who
have to provide welfare or Justice: legislatives or Judiciary. It is general thought that Judiciary
have the task to provide justice but reality lies in the fact that in democratic setup legislatives,
executives and judiciary all have to provide justice although the way to provide it may changes
according to their tasks.

Thus, the formation of law is itself a beneficent task and when such Just laws are executed with
beneficent purpose it is itself Public welfare and the judging of such laws to provide benefit to
beneficiaries is the ultimate welfare. Hence, the beneficial constructions starts itself with
legislation and should continue till justice. This can be called Origination theory of Beneficial
Construction. Further, this also provides explanation that court should not go beyond legislative
intent.

33
1994 AIR 787, 1994 SCC (1) 243

22
 CHAPTER-5

BENEFICIAL CONSTRUCTION OF WELFARE STATUTE

Industrial Disputes Act 1947 is one of welfare statute which intends to bring about peace and
harmony between management and labour in an industry and improve the service conditions of
industrial workers which in will turn accelerate productive activity of the country resulting in its
prosperity.341As a result the prosperity of the country in turn will help to improve the conditions of
the workmen. Therefore, this statute should be interpreted in such a way that it advances the object
and the purpose of the legislation and gives it a full meaning and effect so that the ultimate social
objective is achieved.2 The courts while interpreting labour laws have always stressed on the
doctrine of social justice as enshrined in the Preamble of Constitution.
There are certain provisions which can also be seen as beneficial to a particular class which is
defined in Industrial Dispute Act i.e. industry, workman, industrial disputes etc. Industrial Dispute
Act also gives certain special benefits like right to strike and lock out. However, the researcher
would like to restrict the scope of the paper by interpreting Workman and Industry definition under
Industrial Dispute Act through different case laws to find out the benefits of the welfare statute.
The word „industry‟ is defined in Section 2(j) and is the most crucial definition in the Industrial
Dispute Act, 1947. Since this statute is welfare legislation the word „industry‟ should be given a
wider meaning. The interpretation of this term has varied from time to time and has been in
controversy. Earlier in 1953, Supreme Court held in the case of DN Banerji v PR Mukherjee that
though municipal activity cannot be regarded as trade or business adventure but will fall within the
expression „undertaking‟ and would be considered an industry.3
In The Hospital Mazdoor Sabha case4 the services of respondents , engaged in the J. J. Group Of
Hospital, Bombay, under State control and management were retrenched without payment of
compensation as required by S. 25F(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.12 The argument given
by the opposite party was that the J.J. Group and Hospitals does not constitute as industry. The
court in this case held that the intent of the legislature was to give an extended meaning to the word
industry as defined in Sec 2(j). Therefore for construing the definition one should not restrict the
meaning but give a wider scope. Since some of the features such as cooperation of the employer and
the employees and the object of satisfying material human needs is identical to the activities to
134
Nagpur District Central Co-operative Bank v. State of Maharashtra, 1987 Mah LJ 593
235
G.P.Singh, Principle of Statutory Interpretation, (12th ed.2010), Lexis Nexis butterworths Whadwa, Nagpur
336
AIR 1953 SC 58
434
State of Bombay v The Hospital Mazdoor Sabha, AIR 1960 SC 610
23
which Sec 2(j) applies it can be said that the conduct and running of the hospitals by the appellant
amounted to an undertaking under Sec2(j).
Another term which has been the subject-matter of controversy before the judiciary is „workman‟.
The term workman has been defined in Sec2(s) of The Industrial Disputes Act,1947 which means
any person (including an apprentice) employed in any industry to do any skilled or unskilled
manual, supervisory, technical or clerical work for hire or reward. The first part of the definition
gives the statutory meaning of „workman‟ and includes an apprentice or any person employed in an
industry to do manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire
or reward. The second part is designed to include something more in what the term primarily
denotes.5
In Steel Authority of India Ltd. v. National Union Waterfront Workers, the Supreme Court held that,
“In a case of ambiguity in the language of a beneficial labour legislation, the Courts have to resolve
the quandary in favour of conferment of, rather than denial of, a benefit on the labour by the
legislature but without rewriting and/or doing violence to the provisions of the enactment.”22 In
this same case, the Supreme Court directed the industrial adjudicators to examine the true nature of
the relationship between the laborers and their employers and contractors in order to verify whether
the contract for service was not a mere ruse or camouflage to evade compliance of various
beneficial legislations under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act. The Supreme
Court also held that where the contract was shown to be a mere ruse, then the contract labour would
have to be absorbed as regular workmen, irrespective of the language of the contract.

CHAPTER-6

H.L.Kumar, What everybody should know about Labour Laws, Pg. 106(2nd Ed. 2003), Universal Law Publishing,
535

New Delhi
24
 CONCLUSION AND
SUGGESTIONS

The Beneficial legislations enforces remedy and benefit or compensation for the persons
aggrieved or oppressed. These are given liberal interpretation. The beneficial statutes must flow
from the language used and it should not form an unnatural interpretation on the words contained
in the enactment; nor should it permit the raising of any presumption that protection of widest
amplitude must be deemed to have been conferred upon those for whose benefit the legislation
may have been enacted. But there should be no role of “Sympathy” in construing these statutes.
The court’s decision must be beneficial but not with sympathy or sentiment as it won’t amount to
be a ground for passing a suitable decision. Hence, the courts must adopt a reasonable and
balanced approach while interpreting beneficial legislations.

The courts must be vigilant to ensure that benefits conferred by welfare legislation must not be
defeated by subtle devices. It is duty of the court to get behind the smoke screen and discover the
true state of affairs. It can go behind the form and see the substance of the transaction.34 The
strict and narrow jacket concept of law is no longer available for the purpose of interpreting a
social welfare piece of legislation especially after the new millennium. The policy of a
democratic Government should run in conjunction with the dynamic interpretation offered by the
courts. The courts exist for the society and in the event the courts feel the requirement in
accordance with principles of justice, equity and good conscience, courts must rise up to the
occasion to do complete justice and meet expectation of the people. The Indian courts should
look into more principles of natural law.

The nature of beneficial construction is remedial in nature as it applies to suppress the mischief
and advances the remedy. When two or more views are possible, then it is duty of court to
interpret a provision, especially a beneficial legislation, liberally so as to give it wide meaning
rather than a restrictive meaning. It applies to a large number of statutes which ranges from
welfare legislations to Socio – economic and Labor Legislation. . A well-established rule of
interpretation is that a beneficial statute be given a purposive construction, to further legislative
intention. So this

34
Workmen v Associated Rubber Industry Ltd (1985) 4 SCC 114

25
proves our first hypothesis, i.e. beneficial legislation receives liberal interpretation from the
courts than any other methods of interpretation.

Second hypothesis is also proved, i.e. doctrine of beneficial construction is a tendency rather than
a rule. This principle is based on human tendency to be fair, accommodating, and just. Instead of
restricting the people from getting the benefit of the statute, Court tends to include as many
classes as it can while remaining faithful to the wordings of the statutory.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

 N.S. Bindra, “Interpretation of Statute”, lexis Nexis Publication, 12th edition, 2017
 G.P. Singh, “Principle of Statutory Interpretation”, lexis Nexis Publication, 14th edition,
2016
 T. Bhattacharyya, “The Interpretation of Statutes”, Central law agency, 2014

ARTICLES

 Jeffrey W.Stempel, "The Insurance Policy as Thing" (2009). Scholarly Works. 233.
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/233
 Priyadarshini, Chandrasmita, Critical Analysis on Interpretation of Beneficial Legislation
(2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782219

WEBSITE

 Arjun Gupta, Harmonious and Beneficial Construction,

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1941/Harmonious-and-Beneficial-
Construction.html
 Abhishek Mohanty, Principles of beneficial construction,
https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/beneficent-statutes-beneficent-rules-of-
construction

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