Semester: IV Course: IoS Faculty:

F.S.Sakkarnaikar

Gujarat National Law University

Gandhinagar, Gujarat (India)

Course Outline

of

Interpretation of Statutes

For

BA/BCom/BSc/BBA/BSW, LLB

Semester:IV

Session: January-May 2017

Faculty:
Dr. Fakkiresh S.Sakkarnaikar
Assistant Professor of Law
Gujarat National Law University
Email: fsakkarnaikar@gnlu.ac.in
Mob: 8128650849

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Semester: IV Course: IoS Faculty:
F.S.Sakkarnaikar

l. No. Contents Page No.

1.0 Objectives of the course 02

2.0 Proposed teaching schedule 04

3.0 Detailed course-outline 05

4.0 Prescribed/Recommended readings 12

5.0 Teaching methodology 13

6.0 Evaluation pattern 13

Tentative dates for test/submission of project/GD,

7.0 14
etc

8.0 Important instructions to students 14

9.0 Contact hours 14

1.0 Objectives of the Course

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Semester: IV Course: IoS Faculty:
F.S.Sakkarnaikar
The importance of this subject within the framework of legal studies cannot be over-
emphasized. The courts have to administer justice according to law. The chief source
of law is legislation. The other sources are precedents and customs. Every source of
law finds its expression in a language. A language is the property of the people and
not that of law, though some words may acquire special legal meaning and may
become a part of the legal terminology. But by far a great bulk of the words used in a
legal draft belongs to the ordinary language. What meaning is to be given to a word
used in a legislation, custom or precedent or in a private deed or will? Even the
dictionary does not give the clear-cut meaning of a word. It gives many alternative
meanings applicable in different contexts and for different purposes so that no clear
field for the application of a word becomes identified. So long as expansion of
meaning takes place uniformly, the law will develop along healthy lines.

But if one judge takes the narrow view and the other the broad view, the law will
mean different things for different persons and soon there will be race for window
shopping for justice. Hence, it is necessary that there should be some rules of
interpretation to ensure just and uniform decisions. Such rules are called the rules of
interpretation. They are the subject-matter of this brief work of introductory nature.
The rules of interpretation are drawn from the general scope and intention of the
instrument or legislation, from the nature of the transaction or the circumstances,
from the legal rights of the parties’ independent of the instrument or law in question,
and from many other relevant particulars.

Interpretation is the process which is adopted for determination of the meaning of a

writing, to determine from its known elements its true meaning or the intent of the
framers of the documents. It is the art of finding out the true sense of any form of
words, the sense which their author intended to convey. This art enables others to
derive from the words the same idea which the author intended to convey and thereby
to find out or collect the intention of a writer. The process involved is such that one
source speaks something and another source picks it up, discovers its meaning and
applies it to do justice between others. It is not a science but an art to find out the
meaning of words in the context of a given situation.

Salmond says that “judicial decisions have the force of law is legally ultimate and un-
derived. These ultimate principles are the grund norms or basic rules of recognition
of the legal system.”

Interpretation is as old as language. Elaborate rules of interpretation were evolved

even at a very early stage of the Hindu civilization and culture. The importance of
avoiding literal interpretation was also stressed in various ancient text books –
“Merely following the texts of the law, decisions are not to be rendered, for, if such
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decisions are wanting in equity, a gross failure of Dharma is caused.”

Interpretation thus is a familiar process of considerable significance. In relation to

statute law, interpretation is of importance because of the inherent nature of
legislation as a source of law. The process of statute making and the process of
interpretation of statutes are two distinct activities.

In the process of interpretation, several aids are used. They may be statutory or
nonstatutory. Statutory aids may be illustrated by the General Clauses Act, 1897 and
by specific definitions contained in individuals Acts whereas non-statutory aids is
illustrated by common law rules of interpretation (including certain presumptions
relating to interpretation) and also by case-laws relating to the interpretation of
statutes.

Lord Denning in Seaford Court Estates Ltd. v. Asher, “English Knowledge is not an
instrument of mathematical precision… It would certainly save the judges from the
trouble if the acts of parliament were drafted with divine precision and perfect clarity.
In the absence of it, when a defect appears, a judge cannot simply fold hand and
blame the draftsman…”

2.0 Proposed Teaching Schedule

No. of Sessions
Module No. Modules
(Classes)
IV.2.1 Introduction 07
IV.2.2 Canons of Interpretation 10
IV.2.3 Internal Parts/aids to Interpretation and 10
Construction
IV.2.4 External Parts/aids to Interpretation and 10
Construction
IV.2.5 Subsidiary Rules 05
IV.2.6 Operation of Statutes 04
IV.2.7 Statutes affecting the Crown or the State 03
IV.2.8 Fiscal and Taxing Statutes 02
IV.2.9 Interpretation of Judgments 02
IV.2.10 Interpretation of Constitution 02
IV.2.11 Interpretation of Documents, Deeds and Wills 02
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IV.2.12 Penal and Remedial Statutes 02

Total = 60

3.0 Detailed Course Outline

Module- IV.2.1 INTRODUCTION Session: 07

 What is a Statute?
 The duties of a Judge and a Legislature
 Judicial activism and Judicial restraint
 Optima est lex minimum relinquit arbitrio judicis, optimus judex qui
minimum sibi
 Salus populi supreme lex (Roman Twelve Tables)
 Difference between Making law and Creating law
 Difference between Interpretation and Construction
 Jaimini’s Mimamsa Rules of Interpretation
 Humbert Wolfe’s view on statutes

Cases
 State of U.P. v. Jeet S. Bhist (2007) 6 SCC 586
 U.P. Bhoodan yagna Samiti v. Brij Kishore (1988)4 SCC 274
 Bhatia International v. Bulk Trading S.A (2002) 4 SCC 105
 Ratanchand Hirachand v. Askar Nawaz Jung – (dead) by L.Rs
(1991) 3 SCC 67
 Beni Prasad v. Hardai Bibi (1892) ILR 14 All 67 (FB).

Module- IV.2.2 Canons of Interpretation Sessions: 10

 Intention of the Legislature

 Statute must be read as a whole in its context
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 Statute to be construed to make it effective and workable
 Plain meaning, effect shall be given to the same irrespective of
Consequences
 Principle of plain meaning.
 Language of the statute should be read as it is
 Addition or substitution of words to be avoided
 Casus omissus
 Rejection of words to be avoided
 Exceptions to the above rules
 The rule of Literal Construction
 Mischief rule-Heydon’s case
 Regard to subject and object
 Regard to consequences
 Harmonious construction

Cases

R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay AIR 1984 SC 684

Grasim Industries Ltd. v. Collector of Cusoms Bombay (2002)4 SCC
297
Tata Engg. and Locomotive Co. Ltd. v State of Bihar (2000) 5 SCC
346)

Literal Rule:
 Ramavatar Buddaiprasad etc v. Asstt. S.T.Officer, Akola AIR 1961
SC 1325
 M.V. Joshi v. M.U. Shimpi AIR 1961 SC 1494
 The Queen v. Charles Arthur Hill Heaten Ellis (1844) 6Q.B. 499
 Ranjit Udeshi v. State of Maharasthra AIR 1965 SC 881
 Municipal Board v. State Transport Authority,Rajasthan AIR 1965
SC 458
 Ramji v. State of Bihar AIR 1963 SC 1088
 M/S Motipur Zamindary Co. Pvt. Ltd v. State of Bihar AIR 1962 SC
860
 Maqbool Hussain v. State of Bombay AIR 1953 SC 325
 S.A. Venkataraman v. U.O.I. AIR 1954 SC 375
 Shriram v. State of Maharasthra AIR 1961 SC 674

Golden Rule
 Karnail Singh v. Moinder Kaur AIR 2003 P & H 135
 State of U.P. v. Synthetics & Chemical Limited AIR 1980 SC 614
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 Lee v. Knapp (1967) 2 Q.B. 442

Mischief Rule:-

 Bengal Immunity Company v. State of Bihar AIR 1955 SC 661

 Smith v. Hughes (1960) I WLR 830
 Kanwar Singh v. Delhi AIR 1965 SC 871
 Ranjit Udeshi v. State of Maharasthra AIR 1965 SC 881
 R.M.D. Chamarbangwalla v. U.O.I. AIR 1957 SC 628
 Commissioner of Income Tax v. Smt. Sara Devi AIR 1957 SC 832
 Alamgir v. State of Bihar AIR 1959 SC 436
 Pyarelal v. Mahandeo Ramachandra AIR 1974 SC 228
 Kannailal v. Parammidhi AIR 1957 SC 907
 Glaxo Laboratories v. Presiding Officer AIR 1984 SC 505

Module- IV.2.3 Internal Parts to Interpretation and Construction Sessions:

10

 Long Title
 Preamble and preamble of the Constitution
 Headings
 Marginal notes
 Punctuations
 Illustrations
 Definition sections
 Proviso
 Explanation
 Schedules
 Transitional provision
 Surplusage

Cases
 R.v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
(1994) 1 All ER 457
 In re,Kerala Education Bill,1957 AIR 1958 SC 956
 Bishwamber Singh v. State of Orissa AIR 1954 SC 139
 Sardar Inder Singh v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1957 SC 510
 Kesavananda v. State of Kerala AIR 1973 SC 1461

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 Karnataka Power Transmission Corp v. Ashok Iron Works
Ltd. (2009) 3 SCC 240
 Emperor v. Sadashiv AIR 1947 PC 82
 Mohammad Shabir v. State of Maharashtra AIR 1979 SC 564

Module- IV.2.4 External Parts to Interpretation and Construction Sessions:

10

 Parliamentary History
 Historical facts and surrounding circumstances
 Later social, political and economic developments and scientific
Inventions
 Reference to other statutes
 Effect of usage and practice
 Dictionaries
 Use of foreign decisions etc.
 International Conventions
 Websites

Cases
 B. Prabhakar Rao and Others v. State of A.P. and others AIR
1986 SC 120
 District Mining Officer and Others v. Tata Iron Steel Co. (2001)7
SCC 358
 K.P.Varghese v. Income Tax Officer Eranakulam AIR 1981 SC
1922
 Pepper v. Hart (1993) 1 ALLER 42 HL
 State of Travancore Cochin and Others v. Bombay Co.Ltd AIR
1952 SC 366
 Aswini Kumar Ghose and another v. Arbinda Bose AIR 1952 SC
369
 State of Mysore v. R.V. Bidop AIR 1973 SC 2555
 Fagu Shaw etc. v. The State of W.B. AIR 1974 SC 613
 S.R.Chaudhuri v. State of Punjab and Others (2001)7 SCC 126
 K.S.Paripornan v. State of Kerala and Others AIR 1995 SC 1012
 R.Y.Prabhoo (Dr.) v. P.K.Kunte (1995) 7 SCALE 1
 P.V. Narasimha Rao v. State AIR 1998 SC 2120
 Sushil Rani v. CIT and another (2002)2 SCC 697
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 Devadoss (dead) by L.Rs v. Veer Makali Amman Koil Anthalur
AIR 1998 SC 750
 National Grindlays Bank v. Municipal Corporation Greater
Bombay AIR 1969 SC 1048
 Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association v. Union of
India AIR 1994 SC 268
 Forasol v. ONGC, AIR 1984 SC 241
 General Electric Co. v. Renusagar Power Co., (1987) 4 SCC 137
 Mohanlal Tripathi v.Distt. Magistrate Rail Bareilly and others,
(1992) 4 SCC 80
 Dental Council of India v. Hariprakash, (2001) 8 SCC 61
 S.P. Gupta v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 149
 S.P. Jain v. Krishan Mohan Gupta and others AIR 1987 SC 222
 J.K. Cotton Spinning & Wvg Mills Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR
1988 SC 191
 P.N. Krishanlal v. Govt. of Kerala (1995) 2 SCC 187
 Visakha v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1997 SC 3011

Module- IV.2.5 Subsidiary Rules Sessions: 05

 Rule of last antecedent

 Non-obstante clause
 Mandatory and directory provisions
 Conjective and disjunctive words
 Construction of legal words
 Noscitur a sociis
 Ejusdem generis
 Reddendo singula singulis
 Ut res magis valeat quam pereat
 Contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima lege
 Dissimilum dissimilisest ratio
 Ubi lex non distinguit nec nos distnguere debemos

Cases
 Bhogilai Chunnilal Pandya v. State of Bombay AIR 1959 SC
356
 Chairman IVP v. Pure Industrial Cocke and Chemicals Ltd
(2007) 8 SCC 705
 In re Article 143 of the Constitution of India AIR 1965 SC 745
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 Links Advertisers and business promoters v. Commr., corp of
the city of Banglore AIR 1977 SC 1646
 Bank of India v. Ketan Parekh AIR 2008 SC 2361

Module- IV.2.6 Operation of Statutes Sessions:04

 Retrospective operation
o Statutes regulating contracts and transfers
o Statutes regulating succession
o Statutes of limitation
o Statutes regulating appeals
o Statutes affecting finality of orders
 Relevant considerations relating to operation
o Presumption that legislation is territorial
o Operation as to foreigners
o Regard to International agreements/conventions/treaties
o Acts passed to give effect to international treaties and
conventions
o Operation as to crimes
o International crimes
o Legislation under the Government of India Act,1935

Cases
 J. Mitra and Co Pvt Ltd. v. Assistant Controller of Patents and
Designs AIR 2009 SC 405
 Virendra Singh Hooda v. State of Haryana AIR 2005 SC 137
 Mohm. Akram Ansari v. Chief Election Officer (2008) 2 SCC
95
 Kuwait Minister of Public v. Sir Frederick Snow and Partner
(1984) 1 All ER 733
 Cherotte Sugathan v. Cherotte Bharati AIR 2008 SC 1467
 New India Insurance Co.Ltd v. Shanti Mishra AIR 1976 SC
237

Module- IV.2.7 Statutes affecting the State or Crown Sessions: 03

 The Rule of Common Law

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 Extent of the Rule
 The Rule in India

Cases
 Director of R and D v. Corporation of Calcutta AIR 1960 SC
1355
 Bombay Province v. Bombay Municipal Corp. 1947 PC 34
 State of U.P. v. Radhey Shyam Rai (2009) 5 SCC 577

Module- IV.2.8 Fiscal and Taxing Statutes Sessions: 02

 Strict construction of taxing statutes

 General principles of strict construction
 Evasion of statutes
 American view

Cases

 Jindal Stainless Ltd. v. State of Haryana (2006) 7 SCC 241

 Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. v. State of M.P. (2009) 7 SCC 339
 Karnataka Bank Ltd. v. State of A.P. (2008) 2 SCC 254

Module- IV.2.9 Interpretation of Judgments Sessions: 02

 Judgment-Meaning and Scope

 Tests of a Judgment
 Judgments not to be interpreted as statutes
 Intention of a judge not expressed in the operative part irrelevant
 Expressions ‘Judicial’ and ‘Judicial Power’
 Obiter dicta and Ratio decidendi
 Maxim: Actus curie neminem gravabit
 Judgments per incuriam
 Principles of res judicata

 Quinn v. Leathem (1901) AC 495 (HL)

 Thomas Francis Allen v. William Cridge Flood (1898) AC 1
 Bharat Forge Co. Ltd. v. Uttam M Nakate (2005) 2 SCC 489
 Infoseek Solutions v. Kerala Law Times AIR 2007 ker 1

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Module- IV.2.10 Interpretation of Constitution Sessions: 02

 Constitution and Statutes- Distinction

 Interpreter of the Constitution
 Theories of interpretation of Constitution
 Principles of Constitutional interpretation
 Constitutional conventions and provisions
 Fraud on the Constitution
 Morality and Constitutionality of statutes
 Divergence between Hindi and English versions of the Act

Module- IV.2.11 Interpretation of Documents, Deeds and Wills Sessions: 02

 Rules of construction of documents

 Conflict between two clauses
 Construction of documents-Printed and partly written/typed
 Acts done under a Deed can be used to interpret the Deed
 Construction of Deed referring to Map
 Duty of courts in constructing election posters
 Principles of interpretation of contract
 Construction of power of attorney
 Interpretation of Wills- Hindu Succession Act, 1956
 Proof of Wills
 Suspicious circumstances surrounding execution of Wills
 Family settlement, real consent and informed consent

Module- IV.2.12 Remedial and penal statutes Sessions: 02

 Remedial and penal statutes-Distinction

 Liberal construction of remedial statutes
 Strict construction of penal statutes
 Vicarious responsibility in statutory offences

Cases
 R v. Charges Ltd (2009) 2 All ER 645 (HL)
 ESI Corp. v. HMT Ltd (2008) 3 SCC 35
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 Kailash Chand v. Dharam Dass (2005) 5 SCC 375
 Ajit Singh v. Jit Ram AIR 2009 SC 199

4.0 Prescribed/Recommended Readings

Prescribed Readings

1. Singh G.P. Principles of Statutory Interpretation (14th edition Wadhwa

and Nagpur 2016)

2. Bakshi P.M. Interpretation of Statutes (2nd Edition Thomson Reuters

2016)

3. Langan P.St.J. Maxwell on The Interpretation of Statues (12th edition

LexisNexis Butterworths 2006)

4. Bennion Francis Bennion on Statutory Interpretation (4th edition Lexis

Nexis 2005)

5. Edgar S.G.G. Craies on Statute Law (6th edition Sweet and Maxwell
1963)

6. Bindra N.S. Interpretation of Statutes (10th edition LexisNexis

Butterworths, 2007)

7. Sarathi Veepa.P Interpretation of Statutes (Eastern Book Company

2010)

Recommended Readings

1. Mukhopadhyay, Sukumar Interpretation of Fiscal Statutes in India,

(Centex Publications, 1999)

2. Lewison, Kim The Interpretation of Contracts, (4th edn., Sweet &

Maxwell,2004)

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3. Eskridge, William N. Legislation and Statutory Interpretation, (2nd
edn.,
Foundation Press, 2006)

4. Barak, Aharon Purposive Interpretation in Law, (Universal Law

Publication 2007)

5. Scalia, Antonin (ed.), A Matter of Interpretation, (Princeton University

Press,1998)

6. Dworkin, Ronald Laws Empire, (Harvard University Press, 1986)

5.0 Teaching Methodology

The methodology for study and research of this subject would be covering,
class room lectures, seminars, group discussions, teacher and student
interaction and open discussion.

6.0 Evaluation Pattern

Evaluation: Marks

Continuous Evaluation……………………………… 20
Mid-Semester Examination--------------------------------- 30
End-Semester Examination………………………… 50
--------------------------------------------------------
Total 100

7.0 Tentative Dates for Continuous Evaluation Tests/ Submission of Project/

GD, etc

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Semester: IV Course: IoS Faculty:
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Periodical evaluation includes Group Discussion of 20 marks.

For GD, the tentative date of commencement--- March 20th 2017.

8.0 Important Instructions to Students

The Course Outline given here is tentative. The concerned faculty-member

may modify it while engaging the academic sessions. The teaching course on
this subject and methodology will not be necessarily bound by parameters
shown here. Both faculty-members and students may mould the Course
Outline according to the needs suitable for better and progressive
understanding of the subject.

9.0 Contact Hours

Days: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Timings: from 3.45 pm to 4.45 pm.

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