1

IoS 04/02/2024
 2
Learning Objectives

 Know what statutory interpretation is.

 Distinguish between ‘Interpretation’ and ‘construction’
 Understand separation of powers and its relevance to statutory interpretation.
 Need for Statutory interpretation .
 Constitutional Provisions for Interpretation
 Statutory law ?

IoS 04/02/2024
 3
Need for Interpretation ?

 Legislations are drafted by well educated and trained professionals

 Enacted laws, specially the modern Acts and Rules, are drafted by legal
experts and it could be expected that the language used will leave little room
for interpretation or construction.

 But the experience of all those, who have to bear and share the task of
application of the law, has been different.

IoS 04/02/2024
 4

IoS 04/02/2024
 5
English poet often regarded as the chief
representative of the Victorian age in poetry.
(1809-1892)

2014

IoS 04/02/2024
 6

Section 420 in The Indian Penal Code

Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.—
Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person de­
ceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter or
destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything
which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted
into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of
either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and
shall also be liable to fine.

IoS 04/02/2024
 7
Words….

 Problem of interpretation is a problem of meaning of words and their effectiveness as a

medium of expression;
 "Words and phrases are symbols that stimulate mental references to referents’
 Words of any language are capable of referring to different referents in different
contexts and times-
 There is always the difficulty of borderline cases falling within or outside the connotation
of a word Language, therefore, is likely to be misunderstood
 In ordinary conversation or correspondence it is generally open for the parties to obtain
clarification if the "referent" is imperfectly communicated;

IoS 04/02/2024
 8
Words and Phrases

TABLE

IoS 04/02/2024
 9
Words and Phrases ……

Interpretation of ‘words…’

IoS 04/02/2024
 10

IoS 04/02/2024
 11
What is Interpretation?

IoS 04/02/2024
 12
Salmond

“the process by which the courts seek to ascertain the

meaning of the Legislature through the medium of
authoritative forms in which it is expressed".

IoS 04/02/2024
 13
Meaning of Interpretation

IoS 04/02/2024
 14
What is Statutory Interpretation?

 Derived from the Latin term ‘interpretari’, which means to explain, expound,
understand, or to translate.
 Interpretation is the process of explaining, expounding and translating any text or
anything in written form.
 Involves an act of discovering the true meaning of the language which has been used in
the statute.
 Various sources used are only limited to explore the written text and clarify what exactly
has been indicated by the words used in the written text or the statutes.

IoS 04/02/2024
 15
Interpretation and Construction

IoS 04/02/2024
 16
”Interpretation” or “construction”

" Interpretation differs from construction in that the

former is the art of finding out the true sense of any
form of words; that is, the sense which their author
intended to convey; and of enabling others to derive from
them the same idea which the author intended to convey;

IoS 04/02/2024
 17
”Interpretation” or “construction”

 Construction, on the other hand, is the drawing of conclusions, respecting subjects that
lie beyond the direct expressions of the text, from elements known from and given in the
text.
 Interpretation only takes place if the text conveys some meaning or other.
 Construction is resorted to when, in comparing two different writings of the same
individual, or two different enactments by the same legislative body, there is found
contradiction where there was evidently no intention of such contradiction one of another,
;
 " Cooley, Const. Lim. 49-50”

IoS 04/02/2024
 18
Role of Legislature- Judiciary- Executive

Making of Laws Application of Laws Execution

IoS 04/02/2024
 19
What is Statute?

 A statute is, in a general sense, the written will of

the legislature rendered authentic by certain
prescribed forms and solemnities,'- prescribing
rules of action or civil conduct.

IoS 04/02/2024
 20
Classification of Statutes
 Classification of Statutes by Duration
 Classification of Statutes by Method
 Classification of Statues with Reference to Object
 Codifying Statute
 Consolidating Statute
 Declaratory Statute
 Remedial Statute
 Enabling Statute
 Disabling Statute
 Penal Statute
 Taxing Statute
 Explanatory Statute
 Amending Statute
 Repealing Statute
 04/02/2024
Curative or Validating Statute
 21
Statutory Enactment - Nature

 A statute as enacted cannot be explained by the individual opinions of the

legislators, not even by a resolution of the entire Legislature
 After the enacting process is over, the Legislature becomes functus officio
so far as that particular statute is concerned, so that it cannot itself interpret
it
 Legislature can no doubt amend or repeal any previous statute or can Having performed duty,
declare its meaning but all this can be done only by a fresh statute after having served its purpose/ no
going through the normal process of law making legal effect
 [JP Bansal v State of Rajasthan, 2003 ]

IoS 04/02/2024
 22
Law in 18th Century

 In 18th century, it was permissible for the

judges to go to the Legislature and
enquire what they meant, where the
language of an Act was ambiguous or
contradictory but practice is dead and
bygone ;

 [Spencer v State (Supreme Court of Indiana),

(1853) 5 Ind. 41 (Perkins J), ]

IoS 04/02/2024
 23
Making Laws & Application of Laws

 Lowie, C. J., in Reiser v. The William Tello Saving Fund Association, 39 Pa. St. 146, said :
 " We must again insist that the making of laws and the application of them to cases as they arise
are clearly and essentially different functions, and that one of them is allotted by the
constitution to the legislature and the other to the courts.
 Chief Justice Gibson expressed his opinion in Greenough v. Greenough, 1 Jones, 494:
 'Every tyro or socialist knows that it is the province of the legislature to enact, of the judiciary
to expound, and of the executive to enforce.'

IoS 04/02/2024
 24
Statutory Interpretation – Art or Science

 Statutory interpretation is an art, not a science.

 Legislatures do not draft perfectly; ambiguity, vagueness, omission, and
mistake are all common elements in the final product.
 Knowing how to interpret statutes in light of these imperfections is
critical to practice.
 Most of the work lawyers do today centers on statutes, whether federal or
state.
 [Eskridge et al., Legislation And Statutory Interpretation]

IoS 04/02/2024
 25
Rules of Interpretation – Why important

 The rules of statutory interpretation are important for several reasons.

 (1) They tell interpreters what values and factors to take into account when dealing
with a legislative text.
 (2) They supply the vocabulary in which such texts are analyzed and explained.
 (3)They shape the arguments used by interpreters in defending their preferred
interpretation and by judges in justifying their decisions.

IoS 04/02/2024
 26
Necessity of Statutory Interpretation

 Based on Policy

 Skeletal Legislation

 Principles of interpretation are NOT

principles of law but only a methodology of
explaining the meaning of the words in a
text [ B premanand v Mohan Koikal
(2011)]

IoS 04/02/2024
 27

“ Constitutional Provisions on
interpretation

IoS 04/02/2024
 28
Constitutional Provisions

Art Heading Provision

132(1) Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in
appeals from High Courts in certain cases.
133(1) Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in
appeals from High Courts in regard to civil
matters
(1) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from any
judgment, decree or final order of a High Court in the
territory of India, whether in a civil, criminal or other
proceeding, if the High Court certifies under article
134A that the case involves a substantial question of
law as to the interpretation of this Constitution.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in article 132, any party
appealing to the Supreme Court under clause (1) may
urge as one of the grounds in such appeal that a
substantial question of law as to the interpretation of
this Constitution has been wrongly decided.

IoS 04/02/2024
 29
Constitutional Provisions

Art Heading Provision

145(3) Rules of Court, etc. (3)The minimum number] of Judges who are to sit for the purpose
of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to
the interpretation of this Constitution or for the purpose of hearing
any reference under article 143 shall be five:
147 Interpretation. In this Chapter and in Chapter V of Part VI, references to any
substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this
Constitution shall be construed as including references to any
substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the
Government of India Act, 1935 (including any enactment amending
or supplementing that Act), or of any Order in Council or order
made thereunder, or of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, or of
any order made thereunder.
IoS 04/02/2024
 30
Constitutional Provisions

Art Heading Provision

228 Transfer of certain cases to High If the High Court is satisfied that a case pending in a court
Court. subordinate to it involves a substantial question of law as to the
interpretation of this Constitution the determination of which is
necessary for the disposal of the case, it shall withdraw the case and
may —
236 Interpretation. In this Chapter —
(a) the expression "district judge" includes judge of a city civil
court, additional district judge, joint district judge, assistant district
judge, chief judge of a small cause court, chief presidency
magistrate, additional chief presidency magistrate, sessions judge,
additional sessions judge and assistant sessions Judge;

IoS 04/02/2024
 31
Constitutional Provisions

Art Heading Provision

264 Interpretation. In this Part, “Finance Commission” means a Finance Commission
constituted under article 280.
308 Interpretation. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression
“State” does not include the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

367 Interpretation. (1) Unless the context otherwise requires, the General Clauses Act,
1897, shall, subject to any adaptations and modifications that may
be made therein under article 372, apply for the interpretation of
this Constitution as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of the
Legislature of the Dominion of India.

IoS 04/02/2024
 32
Judicial Review v Interpretation

IoS 04/02/2024
 33
Constitutional Provisions for Statutory
Interpretation
 Constitution provides for Judicial Review without specifying how that interpretation
should be conducted;
 No provision sets out explicit instructions to judges about the limits interpretation
flexibility;
 Constitution provides clue only, that interpretation should be a judicial exercise;
 Leaves considerable discretion about the proper nature of judging the application of
statutes in individual cases
 There is no accepted general thesis of Constitutionally directed statutory interpretation
 Interpretation is the exclusive privileges of the Constitutional courts [State of WB v
Kesoram Industries Ltd (2004)]

IoS 04/02/2024
 34
Legislative Instruments

 In law, a document that is capable of producing legal effects is called an “instrument.”

 Instruments having the status of legislation may be made by a legislature or by a person
or body to which the legislature has delegated a law-making authority.
 Instruments made by a legislature are called “statutes,” “Acts,” or “enactments.”
 Instruments made by persons or bodies acting under delegated authority have a variety of
labels, including “statutory instruments”; “delegated,” “subordinate,” or “executive
legislation”; “regulations”; “orders in council”; “rules”; and sometimes
“guidelines.”1 Legislative instruments produced by municipalities are called
“ordinances” or “by-laws.”

IoS 04/02/2024
 35
General Clauses Act, 1897

 S.2(29) “Indian law” shall mean any Act, Ordinance, Regulation,

rule, order, bye-law or other instrument which before the
commencement of the Constitution, had the force of law in any
Province of India or part thereof, or thereafter has the force of law
in any Part A State or Part C State or Part thereof, but does not
include any Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom or any Order
in Council, rule or other instrument made under such Act;

IoS 04/02/2024
 36
Art.13- Laws inconsistent with or in derogation
of the fundamental rights

 (1)…
 (2)….

 (3) In this article, unless the context otherwise requires,—

 (a) “law” includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification,
custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law;
 (b) “laws in force” includes laws passed or made by a Legislature or other
competent authority in the territory of India before the commencement of this
Constitution and not previously repealed, notwithstanding that any such law or any
part thereof may not be then in operation either at all or in particular areas.

IoS 04/02/2024
 37
Use of ‘Maxims’

 Law should not be fettered by maxiums.

 "I need hardly repeat that I detest the attempt to fetter the law by maxims. They are
almost invariably misleading: they are for the most part so large and general in their
language that they always include something which really is not intended to be included
in them.“

 Farmouth v. rance (1887), 19 Q. B. D. 647, at p. 653; 57 L. J. Q. B. 7, at p. 9, Lord Esher,

Mvf. :R.

IoS 04/02/2024
Goals of Interpretation

 The goal of statutory interpretation should be central to understanding its theory and
practice.
 Lack of consensus about the proper goal of this interpretive enterprise, either politically or
legally;
 The judicial power, including that of statutory interpretation, derives from the
Constitution.
Judicial Power to Interpret

 Constitution does not provide much guidance on the relevant question.

 Constitutional mandate - “leaves statutory interpretation to be resolved by the
‘judicial power’ without specifying how that interpretation should be conducted.”
 No provision “sets out explicit instructions to judges about the limits of interpretive
flexibility.
Judicial Power to Interpret

 Constitutional clue- provides only the broad principle that statutory interpretation should
be a “judicial” exercise, which leaves considerable discretion about the proper nature of
judging the application of statutes in individual cases.

 There is no accepted general thesis of constitutionally directed statutory interpretation.

 41

Theories of interpretation

IoS 04/02/2024
 42
Judge’s view of SOP affects interpretation……

My Court…
My
Interpretation…

IoS 04/02/2024
 43
Theories of Interpretation

Textualism Intentionalism Imaginative Reconstruction

Purposivism Dynamic Statutory

interpretation

IoS 04/02/2024
 44

IoS 04/02/2024
 45
Textualism

 Textualism is a theory under which its adherents, textualists, look for the
public meaning of the words used in the statute as of the time the
statute was drafted rather than looking for the legislature’s intent.
 Textualists do so in a relatively linear fashion, turning from one source
to the next source until an answer is found.

INTRINSIC
Textualists examine only few sources , focusing primarily on intrinsic
sources, especially the text and related statutes.

IoS 04/02/2024
 46
Textualism

 Textualists believe that a judge’s role is to be faithful to the Constitution by protecting the
power distribution identified within that document.

 “Textualists argue that looking beyond the text raises constitutional concerns. Textualists ‘would
hold Congress to the words it used.… [T]o do otherwise would permit Congress to legislate
without completing the required process for enactment of legislation.’


 [JELLUM & HRICIK, MODERN STATUTORY INTERPRETATION, (quoting Carol Chomsky,

Unlocking the Mysteries of Holy Trinity: Spirit, Letter, and History in Statutory Interpretation,
100 Colum. L. Rev. 901, 951 (2000)).]

IoS 04/02/2024
 47
Textualism

 Examine the text with dictionary in hand,

and then finish interpreting.

 Require ambiguity or absurdity to look

beyond the text;
 Refuse to look at some types of non-textual
sources, such as legislative history, legislative
acquiescence, and unexpressed purpose.

IoS 04/02/2024
 48
Textualism

 Textualism is also called the plain meaning theory of interpretation because

textualism is based on the plain meaning canon of interpretation.

 The plain meaning canon provides that the ordinary meaning of the words of a
statute should control interpretation.
 The plain meaning canon matches textualists’ interpretative goal of finding
public meaning;
 Problem with the plain meaning canon is that language that seems clear to one
person can be ambiguous or even mean something completely different to another
person.

IoS 04/02/2024
 49
Textualism

 Justice Antonin Scalia , firm believe

of textualism ;

 In Wisconsin Public Intervenor v.

Mortier, explicitly stated that that
legislative history can never be
relevant to statutory interpretation.
501 U.S. 597, 610 n.4 (1991).

IoS 04/02/2024
 50
Textualism – Key Point

 Textualists focus on intrinsic sources, particularly

the text, to discern the meaning of the language
actually used.

IoS 04/02/2024
 51

IoS 04/02/2024
 52
Intentionalism

 Intentionalist-based theories are rooted in the belief that policies chosen by

an elected, representative body should govern society.
 Under intentionalist-based theories, it is the duty of the court to discern the
intent of that representative body.
 intentionalist-based theorists attempt to understand the meaning of statutes by
looking for legislative intent.
 Specific intent is the intent of the enacting legislature on the precise issue
presented.
 General intent is the overall goal or purpose of the legislature.

IoS 04/02/2024
 53
Intentionalism

 Intentionalists, also referred to as originalists, seek out the specific intent of the
legislature that enacted the statute:
 What did that legislature have in mind in regard to the specific issue before the court
when the legislature enacted the statute.
 intentionalists start with the statutory language. But intentionalists do not stop with the
text, as a textualist would do;
 intentionalists move on and examine other sources of meaning.
 Unlike a textualist, an intentionalist does not need a reason, such as ambiguity or
absurdity, to consider sources beyond the text.

IoS 04/02/2024
 54
Intentionalism – Key Point

 Intetionalism focuses on the text and extrinsic

sources to find the specific intent of the enacting
legislature in regard to the language at issue in the
statute.

IoS 04/02/2024
 55
Imaginative Reconstruction: A Version of
Intentionalism

 Discerning the specific intent of the enacting legislature is often a difficult, if not
impossible task. Moreover, limiting interpretation to a static point in time creates its own
issues.
 Propounded by Dean Roscoe Pound in 1907
 Courts to adopt “imaginative reconstructionism” as an approach for discerning the
intent of the enacting legislature.
 Using this approach, a judge would try to imagine what the enacting legislature would
have intended had the precise factual problem before the court been raised during the
enactment process.

IoS 04/02/2024
 56

IoS 04/02/2024
 57
Purposivism

 Purposivism, also known as legal process theory,

 Oldest form of interpretation.
 In the middle ages, detailed statutes were difficult to produce, and it was hard to
develop and circulate multiple drafts. Copiers did not exist.
 Early English legislators voted based on the general goal or purpose of the statute,
not on the precise statutory language.
 Judges focused on the spirit of the legislation rather than on the exact wording.

IoS 04/02/2024
 58
Purposivism – Key Point

 Purposivists focus on the text, extrinsic sources,

and policy based sources to discern the general
intent or purpose for the statute.

IoS 04/02/2024
 59
Dynamic Statutory Interpretation

 A theory related to purposivism is dynamic statutory interpretation.

 Dynamic statutory interpretation is an approach developed by
Professor William Eskridge in 1994.
 Dynamic approaches encourage judges to be more flexible and
consider what the enacting legislature would have wanted given
common day realities.

IoS 04/02/2024
 60
Distinction Textualism Intentionalism Purposivism

Method Consider the Consider the ‘Intent’ Consider the ‘Purpose’

‘Text’

Sources Intrinsic Extrinsic

When used

IoS 04/02/2024
 61
Case Study

 The Act of February 26, 1880, "to prohibit the importation

and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or
agreement to perform labor in the United States, its
Territories, and the District of Columbia,"

IoS 04/02/2024
 62
Facts

 Church of the Holy Trinity (“Church”) contracted with a pastor in England to

come to the U.S. for employment at its church.
 The Church was charged and convicted for violating federal law, which prevented
an employer from contracting with foreign laborers to come to the U.S. for
employment.
 The Church challenged its conviction, arguing that the law did not apply to
churches.
 The U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York held that it was in
violation of federal law when it contracted with a pastor in England to come to the
U.S. for employment.

IoS 04/02/2024
 63
Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States - 143
U.S. 457, 12 S. Ct. 511 (1892)

 Supreme Court Justice David

What is the interpretation
theory followed by Justice
David Brewer?
Brewer, in an opinion about a
church that hired a clergyman
from England, declared that the
United States was a "Christian
nation" in ruling for the church
despite a law that made the hiring
technically illegal.

IoS 04/02/2024
 64
Does Theory Matter?

 “[T]here is no empirical way to show that one of these

[theories] is ‘better’ than the others, in the sense that one
[theory] more often than the others captures the ‘true
meaning’ of a statute.”

 [JELLUM & HRICIK,MODERN STATUTORY INTERPRETATION,]

IoS 04/02/2024
 65
Principles- Rules-Canons-Aids

IoS 04/02/2024
 66
Principles- Rules-Canons-Aids

IoS 04/02/2024
 67
Essentials

 Constitution of India  Economics

 Criminal Laws
 General Clauses Act, 1897  Property Law
 Contract Law
 Income Tax Act
 Sales Tax
 Labour Laws
 Tort Law
 Service Laws

IoS 04/02/2024
 68
British Jingle

 "I am the parliamentary draftsman. I

compose the country's laws. And of half of
the litigation, I am undoubtedly the cause",
 SC in Palace Admn. Board v. Rama Varma Bharathan Thampuran (AIR 1980
SC 1187 at. P.1195).

IoS 04/02/2024
 69

“
END

IoS 04/02/2024