CHAPTER-a

LEGISLATIVE MATERIAL
0N
00ucr1
,~ .1 th · .
. uve mate • na s are e van ous Acts passed bY parha ment
r.:g1s1a - -
he State Leg1 1
s atur es and . incl ude orct· -
Ii"
nd t - .- : - - inances rules
..... , o·ons,
sey~a notificati ons and orders issued by the Gover' nment·
___
~~ he d in~ ~ government Gazette~. - -

~ act usually ~onsists of the following different parts:-

Short Title
1.
The Act is known by this title. It is generally mentioned in
the first section of the Act. It also appears at the beginning
of the Act.
2. Official Citation

Every act is officially referred to by its ~dividual serial number

~the c~e ~_ dar year in which it was pass~d. For example,
the official citation of the Protection of Human Rights Act,
1993 is "No. 10 of 1994".
3. Long TitJe

Every act is enacted with a specific purpose which is ~tate

d
in brief in th;- long title.' Foreiample the· long title of the
protection of Hum an Rights Act 1993, is 'J\n act to provide
for the con stitu tion of the Nat iona l Human Rights
..Commission and matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto'. It generally appears below the legislative numb:rs .
_and before the-sections. ... .

71
Legal Language and Leg al Writing
4. Date of Assent
The date on which the Bill received the assent of
President. For·example, m· case of the Human R.ights Act 1$~~
th
the date of assent is Blh January 1994. I

5. Preamble

This is the introductory part of the statute. It states th

reasons and intent of the Act more compreh~nsiv~ly th~
the ~long titl_e. The Preamble express~s the ~cope, O~Ject ano
purpose of the Act.
6. Enacting Formula

It embodies the legislative

•-
authority of Parliament and usu~11
Ql!)
proceeds the first section of the Act. For example, in th,
Protection of Human Right Act the enacting formula is: "~
it enacted by Parliament in the forty - fourth year of the
Republic of India".
7. Date of commencement

This is the date on which the Act came into force. It appefill
either in the footnotes or under section 1 of the Act. Foi
example~the date of commencement of the Protection d
Human Rights Act is deemed ~o be the 28th day of Septemoo
1993.
8. Extent

This is the territorial area in which the Act is applicable.

9. Sections and Sub sections

An act is ~i~d in~o nD:rnbered parts called sections. Eacl

10. Marginal Notes

~- . . . ------
section is then sub-divided into clauses called sub-sectio!ll

Eac~ section.m.ay have a descriptive

•- • -
title• called "Margin{I
Note" which is so called because in the Govt. publication°
the Acts in appears in the left margin of the page.

72 Legal Language and Legal Writing

J
 sc h ed u le s o r T ab le s
11 .
'}1lcse ar e fo u n d a t th
e e n d o f th e A c t o r so
t.hO b( )d y of th e A ct . m e ti m e s e v e n in
 CHAPTER- 4
le
LAW LIBRARY
INTRODUCTION

Th ose of you who intend

d
to become lawyers
t • .
d .
, an not Just to pass
the Jaw exams, nee o acquire the habit of us1·ng 1 al
.
.
eg matenals.
"' u must not rest cont ent b y gettmg to know th 1
lo e aw second-hand
I as it were, through the text books and lecture notes, but must delv~
into the ve~ source of law - the statutes and the case law. The
Jaw library 1s the place you must learn to haunt, both as a law
student and later as a lawyer. .
•'

The following is_a list bf books and journals which will be of use to
you in your quest to learn the law.
AIR Manual

I
The AIR Manual is a ready reference for all the Acts passed by
, _ _ __ _ • • . .r " " ' r ' " - ~ ... . - V , ..

Parliament and which runs into many volumes. The different Acts
arearianged in ajphab~tical order. These Manuals contain civii
as well as criminal Acts. There are footnotes at the end of each
section, giving the·citations of important~nd relev~t case laws.
- ·~-
Also, reference is made to any amendments made the·S~ction.
. . Ltd.
It is published by the All India Reporter Pvt.
in
Law Reports

Law Reports are reports of the more important cases decided by

the superior courts, i.e. the Supreme Court and the various High
.Courts. Not all cases are reported: only those of legal interest are
reported. These reports have an index, arranged statute wise and
subject Wise which usually appears in the opening pages of the
report.

Legal Language and Legal Writing 91

 Right on top of the full text of each reported judgement
. appe::.'-4ts ·
h
citation. Just below that appears the names o t e Judge or ill lt
f
who constituted the bench that decided that particular lll ciQ~
Below that comes the number and type of the case (Writ Pet~~~
or Appeal or Special Leave Petition, as th~ case rnay be).1~t
that comes the names of the parties to the case, find atte ·~~
come the Headnotes. These are not part of the judgement bt t~t
. . . f h 'tlt ::i,
tersely worded summaries of the main pmnts o t e judge ~
written out by the reporter. After the headnotes, all the judge:er
referred to, overruled or dissen:ed f~om are noted With t~~I
respective citations. After that are hsted the names of the advo e.
who:a'.ppe~red for the parties in the matter. Finally, the full tia~
the judgement is given. The name of the judge who act xt i
delivered the judgement in question is noted just before theuau
begins. In cases where more than one judge constituting the b tei
delivers separate judgements then in such cases there is a rnatn~
judgement and a dissenting judgement by different judges ~~ 0
same bench.
Law reports are either offici~ ones P~?shed_by th!3 higher co\Ul
themselves or those published by private publishers. --.

u) Official Reports
i) Supreme Court Reports (SCR):-This report is published on
monthly_£~is and contains cases decided by the Suprem
Court, as indicated by the name of the Report. - -
-·--·
ii) Indian law reports (ILR): These are the official publicatio
containing judgements of the various High courts publishe
on a monthly basis. · · ·

Private Reports
-
The most popular of the law reports published by privately owne
publishing houses is the All India Reporter which is best knowt
it.s acronym-AIR . It is published monthly and reports cases of~
Supreme Courts and the High Courts. Some of the other prtva:
published reports are the Supreme Court Journal (SCJ),
Maharashtra Law Journal (MLJ}, etc.

92 Legal Language and Legal Writing

 eme court Cases (SCC)
1
5upr ·
. is a law report published Ont..c.. WcJ•J '1\lo w,,h \II )\ .. tJ
111i5 on u fortni ·1 I 'J•
..t~ble and non-reported 1·udgo - O it y bolll:1 und i:rir 11•,,, 1
O ~
reE%-· menw of u ....
ndia, It also has_ a J?urnal Section Which .10 S11pru111u Court CJf
1 al interes; wntten by leading ad cnrncm r11Uc.;lw1 uf uumml
Jeg..;.., · S vocnte•· 'ind , 1
[this report are ~r~ndra Malik and p~• J11r r;w. Thu Editor:,
ublished by the Eastern Book Com . -· · Mnlli<. Thin roport 111
P --- - P,lny of Lucknow
supreme Court Journal (SCJ) ·

'J'hiS is a 11:~~~~ly report~r of Supreme Cour .

trorn this, it has a J_ournal~elcc"tion too It 15. t J~1duc111enl.!1. Apilrt
LaW H~~e, Allahabad. · - · publi.:;hcd by the Orient
~
Judgements Today
fhisis a fortnightly law report.which carries JU• dgcmcnt.r; deh•1cred
bY the Supreme Court of India on all isrucs Utlder t he ~un It l"
_ • J

ublished by Taxation
-- . Publishers
.- Pvt· Ltd · from Ncw Oc,11und1:;
1~ .,
P
~ s..:. ~anJula Pan~1t. ~e members of its Editorit1l Adv1r;ory
~ r e drawn f~om r~tued Judges of the Supreme Court iind
H ~ of India as well as a senior Advocates. Juducrnent.:;
today includes a Nominal Index and a subject index It!, mode of
citation is Jf 2001 (5) SC.
The Maharashtra Law Journal
Thisis a law report published on a monthly basis and which CiHries
all the major judgements delivered by the High Couz t of
Maharashtra and Goa . It is edited by 1cadina advocilte~ J.
N.Chandurkai and Abhay Cha~durkar. The Journal al!;o corrie~
thetext of new Acts passed by the Maharnshtra Legislature n:.;
3lso~ainendments, rules, etc. made in existing Acts The ,Jourm1l
as three indices - an index of Acts, a Nomjnal Index and a Subject
dex.
e Madras Law Journal
· is the oldest p_~~ately_p~u~_lis~eq J?w reporter in II~din , t~~vi·n.~
::art..~dpublication in 1891. It is published from C~_cnnm ::i nd c;Jrrt(.!.,
... . . ..
')J
Legal Language and Legal Wntina
 .
topical scheme of the set e.g. a parti_cular s~Jec t ma~ fall Ut1Qe
. ~
one or other subject. Generally the hst of t~p1cs are given in th 1
first volume of the set. This list has read first to ascert ain els ~
under what topic the subject of one such can be found. After th·~
the researcher should take out that particu lar volume in Wh·¼,
that subject has been dealt with. lcQ
LEGAL JOURNALS
Legal Journals contain articles of great impor tance to lawyers
law students alike. Listed below ·are so_me of the more Widely :
1
ones.
1. The Law Quarterly Review
This journal is regarded as the leadin g scholarly journai .
its field in th_
e English langua ge and provides authontati:
and innovative critical analys is of curren t legal issues _e
litigation, statute law, academ ic resear ch, commerce·an~
industry. It is published from Engla nd on a quarterly bas~
by the famous publishing firm of law books called Sweet ana
Maxwell Ltd. It is edited by F.M.B. Reynolds who is a Professor
of Law at Oxford University.
Its conten ts are mainly divide d into three sectio ns - Notes
I
Articl es and Book Reviews. The Notes are short articles
writte n usuall y by well know n solicit ors, barrist ers ana
profes sors of Law at the leadin g unive rsities of the worl~
The Notes deal with topics as varied as a compan,
direct or's perso nal liabili ty in tort, the law relating to
psychiatric injury, le:gal profes sional privile ge after the
death of a client and the wife's guara ntee for her husband's
debts. The Articl es are usuall y longe r pieces , usually the
texts of acade mic paper s prese nted at a seminar 01
conference.
2. Indian Bar Review

This~ the official jo~a l of the Bar Counc il of India_ which~

publis hed from Delhi on a quarte rly basis. It is edited bY

96 Legal Langu age and Legal Writing

r 1j1III\JII !;1111 , ,, /l1,,11 l111 /\ ilv111111 1,11 11/ I J II I I
11111 I A I . , "ll / 111 l111, , ( ]11111t ()(
11111il 1,1 "' v1,11,, y ll1 u11d fl
11 1· MI \ I V, ( 'llltl fll1til1 111 ,<1 I I)
1111 ,
lh 'fl til ltll 111, I ' " , llJ /11 1111, il (:l,Ir~if
' I< lll(JIIIH) fill J
111/.J
' 1,,1,,
1 ,iLJ,,u rnni111m1 I
jlll
•1 l•1!Pllllllil fllll ri1111 (lllltllllt1J
(Ill
ll11
'I I' I ' (J/ 1111111 I I I I
i ,o, .11 c1fl lnr r,vrrnt:1
,,,xi, 111111111 li1llll111 1'11111111111 Ill I,, Lil,,' 111,:t (( I
II111 11111( I11111111,11 l.o 1,x1 11 1.1 , • · 1 11,Jw nt:,t uti1n
11111
I l
11 1 1
llW/1, Ill)(/ ll<JL I
,,111
Ail. u 1111 0 111 rl1HI lwJltJ w,, v <1wn nnd
1111110 111.,1, , I, , top I1,,1 111, 1 t}
r11
nr:1()11111 !111111111 J11Cl(lli ' t.llo ll"'ll< lf '' ·' I llJ tllJO moto
W ' 1
or c·11111
l(J(J/j fl th,, hloumy
'
p11 '
W1.1t11111011111.l 110 1\l l(l/ll11l111110 "11
J)flJ/ 110 ('011 1t 1 I
I(I I '
1 Hlo
I I
litll, ' , m v ronrncnt
pil>tl!(;l.10111111d l \111c .
1
l1111 11rn1 11

ThO lndlnn Advocnto

.
/' '1'hl9 i:1 t.ho ,Jorn 1wl of tho Bur Am;oclntlon of lndw nnd ic:-
1 f
1n1bl111hod Iyoor Y IOll l Dolhl. Tho Pdltorinl 13 J •
prise,..
.;J

, I I ' onrc com

. ..,
'

Joodln(J nc vocoto:1 I <0 Jmll Nnrlmun , Dr· L· M. Si

4

• nghv1 nnd
ot.hots. IL umwlly currlon cfommont•J· on contem pornry cases
'
book 10viowu und wport:; of Bur ovonts.
Journal of tho lndlon Law Institute.
New
This is tho mouthpioco of tho Indian Law Institute at
rson
Dolhi ond is published on a quarterly basis. The Chairpe
f
of its oditoriol comrnittoo is Dr. A.S . Anand, a former Chie
the
Justice of Indio und other judges and senior advocates of
form
Supremo Court ond professors from various universities
tho editorial cornrnittoe. The Editor is S.K. Verma.
Itcarrios orticlos, notes, comments on current case
s and book
reviews. The articles in this journal are on topics
like the
, and
Judicial Review, the need for control of judicial activism
the uniform civil code.
. PULAR LAW MAGAZINES
From the Lawyers Collectlve
This is a monthly law magazine which actively uses law as
an instrument of social change. It seeks to mak e legal
97
Legal Language and Legal Writing
~'flle editor of this
m~gazine is Vijay Jindal.

"et juris
~81'
~. 'f}liS was a_ monthly_ magazine published from Mum
bai for a
feW year~ in the nud_ 1980s._ The famous lawyer-politician
,
fyir. Ram Jeth malaru, was its editor Th'
. . · 1s was a popular
Jllagazine wh~ch was available on the newsstands and which
wrote about con~e~porary legal issues in a popular, readable
stYle. Emi~ent J~nsts ~nd _lawyers wrote for it and it also
ntained mteMe~s with Judges and othe legal lu . .
co . h f
'fhe rnagazme, owever, olded up after a few rnm anes.
years of
publication and has not been heard of since.
consur,,er Confrontation
~-
con.sum~r Confrontation is a bi-monthly magazine in English
published by the Consumer Education and Research Centre,
AbJiledabad. It covers cohsumer issues and often carried
studies and research done on topics of current importance.
Rece~tly the m;;igazine earned the findings of a path-breaking
studY which found that shampoos can cause more harm than
go~d to o~e's hair •arid health because of the chemicals they
contain. The magazine is widely respected and is circulated
through out the world.
CITATION
While arguing a matter before the courts, lawyers usually refer to
an authority - which may be a statute or a case - in support
of
their arguments. Judges, too, while delivering judgements, usua
lly
refe~tosuch authorities in support of their decisions. Such reference
to an authority is called a "citation" and the action
is termed as
'citing".

Theword "citation" however, is more often used to deno

te the
notationbywhich a case referred to may be found. Such notations
orcitations, always indicate the name of the legal jour
nal in which
Ulatpanicular judgement is published, its year of publication, and

Legal Language and Legal Writing 99

 which the text of the judgeme
the number of the page on . ludes the name of the nt b I
· th citation also me court em\
Sometimes e . hart form . Law students need ta~ 'tv\y1
1 ~
delivered the judgement, ~ s that they can find the jud ~~,,'
d . h r such notations so
how to ecip e . below are some citations, alongel!\
g ~~.
0
cited in a law library.h _i:e~ave been explained for the
their case names, w ic stuctWi\
e~~
benefit.
1.
Badridas Kothari Vs. Meghraj Kothari (AIR 1967 Cal
25) I
Here Badn.das Kothari is the Peti.tion. er/Appe
. llant. Megh!
Kothari is the Respondent. This case 1s published in All 11
lndtl
Reporter (H.C.) in the year 1967 on page no. 25. It is decid
1
by Calcutta High court.
2. Veerappa Pillai Vs. Raman Ltd. (1952) SCA 583
In this case ·veerappa Pillai is the Petitioner/App
ellan\
Raman Ltd. The case has been published in the Supr
e~
Court Reporter in the year 1952 on page no. 583 .
3. Maneka Gandhi Vs. Union of India
(AIR 1978 SC 597)
Here Maneka Gandhi is the Petitioner and the Union ofln
·:
is Respondent. The case is decided by the Supreme
Co
and is reported in the year 1978 in All India Reporter on
pa ·
no. 597.
4. Savita Vs. Sanjay [(1995) 3 sec 210]

Here Savita is the Petitioner and Sanjay is the Responde

nl
The case is decided by the Supreme Court. It is cited
U
volume no. 3 of the Supreme Court cases published
in 19~
on p~~~~-~~10. •
5. Advocate General v. Haji Hasham [1909] 12 Born
LR. 247
In this case, the Advocate General is the petitioner andB3
Hashan is the respondent. The case is reported in
Bonib3
Law Reporter on page 247 in volume 12 .in the year 9
190 ·
100 Legal Language and Le.gal Writing
 l)()flll1nr l'roduc.tu l.11~ . V:,. Hanh [ 1007) 2 ALLE.R. 330
(1

11 11111 l><H llfll H JIJOdl)(;tJJ l:i UHJ i>l'titlO!l{'( unu

I I • ,
,., ,I LJ h .
I as
, lS the
jl11~,,~,r11l1111l. J llo j11clwmHmt l:i r<.:ported in th All E '
' }' ,o e . ngland
Hnpo1IJH oil Jlll(JO 110 . •,.,o of voh1mu No. 2 of 1967.

Tata 1011 Ltd. v. Stnto of Korala 1987 Ker. LT 645

1
Jloro tho Pntlllonor 111 tho Tata Tea Co and th R
' ,. . . ~, · e espondent
111 tho .,LnlO o,f Korn 11. I ho tano iG reported in the Kerala Law
1

'J'ilJlllll Of 1!)fl/ Ut J)a{JO 110. 615.

LAW RCPORT MODE OF CITATION

All !ndin Hoporlur AlR 1985 SC '125 (Acronym of Law

Jeport + Yem of Publication+ Court
+ Page No.]
.
Supwmo Court Cu~on 1985 SCC '125 [Yem of Publication
+ Volume No. of that year +
Acronym of Law Report+ Page No.]

Judgemcuw 'ludny JT 1985 II SC 425 [Acronym of Law

Report + Year of Publication+ Vol.
Part +Court+ Paage No.]

Criminal Law Journal 1985 Cr.L.J. 425 [Year of publication

+ Acronym of Law Report + Page ,
No.]

Supremo Court Reporter 1985 SCR 425 [Year of publication

+ Acronym of Law Report + Page
No.]
1
238,
Maharashtra Law Journal 1985 Mah: G. J. 425 [Ye~r of
publication + Acronym of law
report t_.1)-;,, _111 , ~ . . . . . . _
..-1' \l l , 1,t lu1 1 ,J f"1,' ·~
\' •,\· - , 1,
 Bombay Law Reporter
1985 BLR 425 (Year of publicatio '
+ Volume No. + Page No. ] ti I
I'
SEARCH OF CASE LAW .
.
· r tasks 1nvo1ve din the prepar ation of a case u.;, f. I
One of the maJo . h
. the courts is t e se arch for releva nt case law on t\.l tl·
arguments 1n t needs to know the case law Whi ·
I

subject at hand. The a~vo~~ ell as the case law that will milita\~':
hi arguments as we
supports . s
against his arguments.
•The search for case law can be made ~ 1
t comm only used methods ~:
in:.
number of different ways , the mos art 1
as under. . ~ u - I', C. ,· r , · f• L
~--A1 ri·, ... rr·,• l-rr.11 , t !~
I ,,..
-Ji
I :
• i -
f ,'
(c
(Jl·· r . I .. ,!,l '
1. Statute-wise "'ly(..• ,-: \ ' -, t ' ~, , . , I'' ' ' I
.
Inth1sme thod one must first look up the statut e referred 1.
, ----- . - Y:
in the case under study in the AIR Manu al. In ~his Manual, a
one line summing up of the crux of releva nt Judgements ~
given with reference to every sectio n, sub-se ction, I.!&_e.
regulation or schedul~. If, on lookin g up the crux of th~
j~dgement, one finds it of use in the matter , one can refer to
the judgement as its citati~n is also given.
'- •• , \ f •, ' .,

I ' • ~.... ., ,,.. ,

2. Subject -wise f · ·, • , , ,. • · 1• •
I
• • c,
f' (1'\('(' '\l u,,!o~ro· I tI
, , 1 !
•,
, .
'. •
, , . _ .'
Lr ' '
I/ ~
J
This is considered one of the most conve nient methods ol
.- - -
searching case law by lawyers. One can look up the subject
matter of the case under study under the subjec t index ----..
o!
various Law Reports or Digests. Under each subjec t is listed
relevant case law with citatio ns and cross- refere nces.
3. Case-wise

1
• , \. If one is able to find even a single judge ment of use.it can
\ read to ~c:~Y m~!e ~uc~. Every report ed judge ment containS
a li~t ~! case~ c~e_d in _the releva nt case along with then
cit~tions in the column after the Head Notes . One can easil~
refer to these ·cases which will, in turn, provid e with more
releva nt case law. -

102 Legal Language and Legal Writing

Repudiate ., reject
To
Compensa tion or damages for sot
Solatium mental anguish or wounded feelings to,
Chance of an heir apparent succeect·
Spec successionis
an estate lllg~
To stand by, .things decided, to abict
Stare decisis
precedents e~,.
An indispensa ble requisite
Sine qua non
Existing condition
Status quo
A judicial writ commandi ng appeara ,
Subpoena· ncer
a person under a pena1ty .
A doctrine, dogma, principle, opinion
Tenets
Tenor The actual wordings of legal document :

Ultra vires Beyond one's powers

I

Usage Established practice, habitual use .f

Verdict The decision of a jury in civil or c~·

cases

Vice versa In reverse order

Vis-a-vis In relation to

Viva voce Expressed on conduct by word of mouttl

oral
Volition One's decision made after deliberation
Waiver Voluntary relinquishm ent of a known rtgr
ABBREVIATION NAME OF LE_GAL JOURNAL I
!

A.C Appeal Cases

A.C.J Accident Claims Journal
A.LR. All India Reporter
A.L. J Allahabad Law Journal

106 Legal Language and Legal Writing

..
 Annual Surve
A·sJ.~
Yof Indian L
All England R aw
,u-1-· e.ft eporter
Allahabad l,.vveekly
1
R
All,W,P.• Allahab eporter
A,w.N• ad Weekly Notes
~ c.A. Bombay case Reporter
80"''
9.H.c.A
BombayH·
. . igh Court Re
Bih Porter
eJ.J,A . ar Law Journal Reports
Cuttack Law r·1mes ·
c.1.J
Civil and Mil·itary Law Journal
c.~.u..J
c.P.J, Consumer Protect·ion. Journal

c.P.A Consumer Protection Reporter

c.u.L.J Cochin Univ · Law Journal
· ersity
c.W.N, Calcutta Weekly Notes
COM L REV Comparative Law Review

Cr.LJ Criminal Law Journal

D.LR Daily Law Reporter

Guj. LJ. Gujarat Law Journal

H.C.R. High Court Reporter

HARV. REV Harward Law Review

Indian Advocate/Indian Appeas
I.A.
I.B.Rev Indian Bar Review
'
International Court of Justice
I.C.J
Indian Joµrnal of Legal Studies
I.J.LEG. STUDIES
I.LR. Indian Law Reporter
Indian Law Report.s Rajasthan series
I.LR. Raj
Indian Law Review
I.L REV
107
Legal Language and Legal Writing
 Income Tax Reporter
LT.A
Journa1Of Indian Law Institute
J.1.L.I
Judgements Today
J.T
I(ing's Bench Law ~eports
K.B.
Labour Law Journal
L.L.J
London Queen Reporter
L.O.R
Labour and Industrial Cases
Lab. I.C.
Maharashtra Criminal Reporter
Mah. Cr. R
Mah. J.D.
Maharashtra Judicial Decisions

Mah. LA Maharashtra Local Act

My. L.J Mysore Law Journal
P.L.R. Punjab Law Reporter

R.L.W Rajasthan Law Weekly

Rail Cases Railway Cases
S.C.A Supreme Court Appeals
s.c.c Supreme Court Cases
S.C.J Supreme Court Journal
S.C..W.R. S1:1preme Court Weekly Reporter
T.A.C. . Transport and Accident Cases
Tax L.A. Taxation Law Reports
W.L.R. Weekly Law Reports
N.Y.R New York Reports
L.T. Law Times
N.LJ Nagpur Law Journal
P.W.R. Punjab Weekly Reporter
**************