AIDS OF
INTERPRETATION
AIDS OF
INTERPRETATION
An Aid, is a device that helps or assists.
For the purpose of construction or interpretation, the
court has to take recourse to various internal and
external aids.
CASE LAWS:- AIDS OF INTERPRETATION.
B. Prabhakar Rao and others v State of AP. And others
(1986): “Where internal aids are not forthcoming, we
can always have recourse to external aids to discover
the object of the legislation. External aids are not ruled
out. This is now a well settled principle of modern
statutory construction.”
K.P. Varghese v Income Tax Officer Ernakulam, AIR
1981 SC 1922 The Supreme Court has stated that
interpretation of statute being an exercise in the
ascertainment meaning, everything which is logically
relevant should be admissible.
INTERNAL AIDS OF INTERPRETATION:- DEFINITION
“Internal aids” mean those aids which are available
in the statute itself. Each and every part of an
enactment helps in interpretation. However, it is
important to decipher as to whether theses parts can
be of any help in the interpretation of the statute.
The Internal aids to interpretation may be as follows:
TYPES OF INTERNAL AIDS (PARTS OF STATUTE)
Title:- Long Title and Short Title
Definition Illustrations Preamble Provisos Explanations Headings
and Title of the chapters Schedules Marginal Notes Punctuation Sub
headings Sections Appendix
TITLE
Short Title and Long Title
The Long Title of a Statute is an internal part of
the statute and is admissible as an aid to its
construction as it gives the description about the
object of an Act.
The short title of an Act is for the purpose of
reference & for its identification.
TITLE:- CASE LAWS
In Re Kerala Education bill, the Supreme Court held that
the policy and purpose may be deduced from the long
title and the preamble.
In Manohar Lal v State of Punjab, Long title of the Act is
relied as a guide to decide the scope of the Act.
PREAMBLE
Preamble is the Act in a nutshell.
Placed below the long title which states the objective, purpose and reasons for
passing of acts.
The main objective and purpose of the Act are found in the Preamble of the Statute.
It is a preparatory statement.
In Kashi Prasad v State, the court held that even though the preamble cannot be
used to defeat the enacting clauses of a statute, it can be treated as a key for the
interpretation of the statute.
PREAMBLE:- CASE LAWS
In Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya v. State of M.P. AIR (2013)
15 SCC 677-the court cannot have resort to preamble when the language of
the statute is clear and unambiguous.
In Maharashtra Land Development Corporation v. State of Maharashtra, it
was held that Preamble of the Act is a guiding Light to its interpretation.
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461-wherein the apex
court strongly relied on the Preamble to the Constitution of India in reaching
a conclusion that the power of the Parliament to amend the constitution
under Article 368 was not unlimited and did not enable the Parliament to
alter the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
DEFINITION OR INTERPRETATION CLAUSE
When the Act itself provides a dictionary for the words used,
the court must look into that dictionary first for the
interpretation of the words in the statute
Definition gives the interpretation of certain words or
expressions, they may include or exclude something, may be
of restrictive, extensive, ordinary or special kind.
The definition clause of one Act cannot be used to explain the
same word used in another statute
• THE OBJECT OF DEFINITIONS IS
TO AVOID OF FREQUENT DEFINITION OR
REPETITIONS IN DESCRIBING INTERPRETATION
THE SUBJECT MATTER, TO
WHICH THE WORD OR
CLAUSE
EXPRESSION SO DEFINED IS
INTENDED TO APPLY.
• A DEFINITION IS NOT TO BE
READ IN ISOLATION - IT MUST
BE READ IN CONTEXT OF ITS
USE. WHERE DEFINITION ITSELF
IS AMBIGUOUS, IT HAS TO BE
INTERPRETED IN THE LIGHT OF
OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE
ACT.
TRANSFER OF PROPERTY ACT CRPC
DEFINITION CLAUSE:-
CASE LAW
• ANGOORI DEVI V. U.P STATE
(1964):- WHERE A TERM IS DEFINED
IN THE ENACTMENT, THE COURT HAS
TO LOOK INTO THE DEFINITION L AND
NOT TO ITS ORDINARY MEANING.
HEADING AND TITLE OF A CHAPTER
• HEADINGS MAY BE GIVEN TO GROUP OF
SECTIONS IN AN ACT.
• HEADINGS ARE NOT PASSED BY THE
LEGISLATURE BUT THEY ARE SUBSEQUENTLY
INSERTED AFTER THE BILL HAS BECOME LAW.
• ONLY IN THE CASE OF AMBIGUITY OR DOUBT,
HEADING OR SUB-HEADING MAY BE REFERRED
TO AS AN AID IN CONSTRUING PROVISION.
HEADINGS AND
TITLE OF A
CHAPTER
• A HEADING TO ONE SET OF SECTIONS CANNOT ACT AS
AN AID TO INTERPRET ANOTHER SET OF SECTIONS-SHELLY
V. LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL, 1949 AC 56
HEADING AND TITLE
OF A CHAPTER:-
• IN NOVARTIS AG. V. UNION OF INDIA, THE SECTIONAL
CASE LAWS HEADINGS WERE RELIED ON WHILE INTERPRETING SECTION
5, 3(D), 2(1) (J) AND (JA) AND 83 OF THE PATENTS
ACT, 1970.
• IN N.C. DHOUNDIAL V. UNION OF INDIA, IT WAS HELD
THAT "HEADING" CAN BE RELIED UPON TO CLEAR THE
DOUBT OR AMBIGUITY IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE
PROVISION AND TO DISCERN THE LEGISLATIVE INTENT.
