Notes- Umang Sharma

INTERNAL AIDS OF INTERPRETATION

Internal aids are the device that helps in the interpretation of statutes. They are
present inside the statutes. Following are internal aids of interpretation:
1. Short Title- Short title is a name given to the statute for the purpose of
its identification. It generally ends with the year of passing of the act. For
example- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha
Sanhita, 2023
2. Long Title- Long title is a brief description of the purpose of act. It is
mentioned in the head of the Statute. It generally starts with ‘An Act to’
.For example the long title of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 is “An
Act to consolidate and to provide for general rules and principles of
evidence for fair trial.”
Case- Fisher vs Raven [(1963) 2 All E.R. 389]- In this case court while
interpreting the word ‘obtained credit’ in section 13(1) of the debtor`s act, 1869
looks at the long title of act and refer the word obtained credit as credit for the
payment of money.`
3. Preamble- The next part of statute is preamble and it contains the aim
and object of the act. Preamble can be used for interpretation in case of
uncertainty in the act. For example the preamble mentioned in the West
Bengal Special Courts Act, 1950 is “Whereas it is expedient to provide for
speeder trial of certain offences.”
Case- M/s. Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited and another vs State of
uttarakhand and others (AIR 2016 SC 394)- In this case it was ruled by the
supreme court that preamble cannot control the enacting part of the statute.
4. Marginal Notes- Marginal notes are the brief explanations of the section.
They are inserted at the side of the sections in an act. They are also known
as side notes. For example the marginal note of section 357 of the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is “Breach of contract to attend on and
supply wants of helpless persons”.
Case- P. Aisha Potty vs Returning Officer, Kollam District, Panchayath- In
this case it was held that marginal notes can be relied for interpretation only
when there is ambiguity in the provisions of the act. In case of no ambiguity
marginal notes cannot control the same.
5. Headings- Headings are basically the group of sections or of a single
section. In acts there are some headings attached to all the sections.
Headings are used as an internal aid when more than one conclusion are
possible while interpreting a particular provision.
Notes- Umang Sharma

6. Definition or Interpretation Clause- There are certain words in an act

which is difficult to understand. These words are defined under definition
or interpretation clause of an act.
Case- Mahalakshmi Oil Mills vs State of Andhra Pradesh (AIR 1989 SC 335)-
In this case the definition of tobacco was interpreted. As per section 4 of the
Central excises and Salt act, 1944, “Tobacco means any form of tobacco whether
cured or uncured and whether manufactured or not and includes the leaf stalks
and stems of the tobacco plant”. Supreme court held this definition of tobacco to
be exhaustive and refused to include tobacco seeds in it as they were not
mentioned in inclusive part.
7. Provisos- A proviso is a clause or statement that introduces a condition in
a statute. It does not have its own existence. It is inserted in the section
when the enacting part of the section does not include the subject matter
of the proviso. The general rule about proviso is that proviso is not to be
taken absolutely in strict literal sense but is limited to the ambit of section
in which it qualifies. It contains the word “Provided that” in itself. For
example The proviso of Section 22 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam,
2023 contains “Provided that if the confession is made after the impression
caused by any such inducement, threat, coercion or promise has, in the
opinion of the Court, been fully removed, it is relevant”.
Case- Maulavi Hussein Haji Abraham Umari vs State of Gujarat (AIR 2004
SC 3946)- In this case it was held that a proviso is added to the enactment to
qualify or create an exception to what is in the enactment and ordinarily a
proviso is not interpreted as stating a general rule.
8. Illustration- An illustration is a part of statute present in the section
which explains the provision of law through an example. Almost every act
in India consists Illustration to explain with the help of example.
Case- Mahesh Chand Sharma vs Raj Kumari Sharma (AIR 1996 SC 869)- In
this case it was held that illustration is a part of the section and it helps to
elucidate the principle of the section.
9. Exceptions and Saving Clauses- Exception or saving clauses refers to the
clauses which exempt some provisions from the application of section.
Case- Collector of Customs vs M/s Modi Rubber Limited (AIR 2000 SC
1844)- In this case it was held that whenever the provision is in the nature of
exception, then it must be construed with regard to principal clause.
10. Explanation- It is the part of the statute which is inserted when
legislature feels that a particular provision needs explaining to remove
Notes- Umang Sharma

doubts about the sections. It is inserted with the purpose of explaining the
meaning of a particular provision.
Case- Bengal Immunity Company vs State of Bihar (AIR 1955 SC 661)- In
this case it was held that an explanation is a part of section and both the section
and explanation should be read together in order to interpret the section.1
11. Schedule- It is the part of the statute which deals with how claims
or rights are to be asserted or how powers conferred is to be exercised.
Case- Jagdish Prasad vs State of Rajasthan (AIR 2011 SC 3189)- In this case
it was held that schedule of an act has to be in conformity with the statute and
is required to advance the object of the primary statutory provision.
12. Punctuation- Statutes contain punctuations marks in itself. These
punctuation marks are present to know the real intention of the statutes
Case- Ashwini Kumar vs Arabinda Bose (AIR 1953 SC 75)- In this case the
Supreme Court ruled that punctuation cannot be viewed as a determining factor
and cannot be permitted to alter a text's obvious meaning.

EXTERNAL AIDS OF INTERPRETATION

External aids of interpretation refers to the aid which are not parts of the statute
but helps in interpreting the statute. Following are the examples of external aid
of interpretation:
1. Dictionaries- Dictionary is one of the major external aids of interpretation
because it is useful in determining the common meaning of words. As a
result, judges use dictionaries whenever they need to discover a word's
common meaning but judges must exercise caution because a word's
dictionary definitions do not always reflect its actual meaning in a given
situation. Judge decide the meaning of word which suits perfect to the
context in which a word is used in a statute.
Case- Commissioner of Income Tax vs S.R. Brothers (AIR 1974 SC 78)- In
this case, the question before court was that whether food colors were dyes and
colors, and syrup essences were scents and perfumes, as defined in a notification
issued under Section 3A of the Uttar Pradesh Sales Tax Act, 1948. The supreme
court ruled that the dictionary definitions of the phrases were not the correct
senses in which the legislature used the words in the announcement.

2. Textbooks- Courts may use textbooks to determine the actual meaning of

an enactment. However, this does not mean that the opinions stated in
textbooks are necessarily those of the court. There have been cases where
Notes- Umang Sharma

the courts have accepted or rejected the viewpoints presented in the

textbooks.
Case- Kesavanand Bharathi vs State of Kerala (AIR 1973 SC 1461)- In this
case numerous textbooks were cited, but the majority of the Supreme Court
judges who decided this case believed that the best course of action was for the
court to interpret the case while always keeping in mind the entire context of the
matter because there were so many opposing views and it was not desirable to
follow them.
3. Historical Background- The court has the authority to examine the
history of laws and legislation, consider whether an act was intended to
alter the law or to leave it unchanged, and seek assistance from other
historical facts that it believes will be required to determine the true
meaning of enactment.
Case- John Vallamattom vs Union of India- In this case it was held that when
reading a restricted act, one may take into account both the legislation's
historical background and how the original legislature handled it.

PRESUMPTION REGARDING JURISDICTION

There are various presumptions regarding jurisdiction in the interpretation of
law. Some of the presumption are:
1. Presumption against Ouster of established jurisdiction, creation of
new jurisdictions and enlargement of existing jurisdiction of court- It
is assumed that until a statute expressly states otherwise, it should not
be interpreted in a way that denies a court jurisdiction. This theory is
predicated on the idea that the state should preserve the status quo while
the courts remain accessible to administer justice. Likewise, there is
another presumption that says the court cannot expand existing
authorities or establish new ones unless the act expressly specifies
otherwise. In India jurisdiction of Supreme courts and High courts are
conferred by the Constitution of India so their jurisdiction cannot be
curtailed.
Case- Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee vs Raj Shiv Rattan
Singh(AIR 1955 SC 576)- In this case it was held that the exclusion of the
jurisdiction of the Civil Court in respect of such a claim must be brought about
by some specific provisions in the Act.
2. Presumption against violation of International law- It is presumed that
any statute should not be read in a way that is inconsistent with
international law to the greatest extent practicable. However, if the
statute's language is clear and unambiguous, the court is compelled to
Notes- Umang Sharma

read it in this manner. This presumption is based on a broad range of

international law and certain constitutional requirements.
Case- Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (AIR 1978 SC 597)- In this case court
took reference of Article 13 of Universal declaration of Human rights which
declares that the freedom of expression or opinion is available to all regardless
of frontiers.
3. Presumption against extra- territorial operation of State- Unless
specifically stated, it is assumed that a law solely applies within a nation's
borders and has no extraterritorial effect. According to Article 245(2) of the
Indian Constitution, no measure passed by parliament can be declared
unconstitutional on the grounds that it would have an extraterritorial
effect. This makes it quite evident that in India, a statute cannot be
declared unconstitutional due to its extraterritorial nature.
Case- K.K. Kochuni vs State of Madras (AIR 1960 SC 1080)- In this case it
was held that a law made by state legislature can be challenged for extra
territorial operation because under Article 245(2) only law made by parliament
are mentioned.

COMMENCEMENT OF LEGISLATION
In India, section 3(13) of the General Clauses Acts of 1897 states that “the term
commencement, when used in connection to an act or regulation, refers to the
day on which the act or regulation went into effect”. A statute is effective from
the date specified in the statute. If the statute does not specify a start date, it
begins when the president's assent is received.
Case- Harla vs State of Rajasthan (AIR 1951 SC 467)- In this case, it was
determined that the rule that, in the absence of a specific date specified in the
statute of its commencement, it will take effect on the day the assent of the
president of India, the governor, or a state is received, may cause unavoidable
hardship to people, despite the fact that the government typically does not take
long to publish a statute once it has received assent. The difficulty can be
reduced if the commencement of a statute is presumed from the date of its
publication in the official gazette.

REPEAL OF LEGISLATION
A repealed statute is one that is no longer legally valid. After any legislation is
repealed, it is considered that the act never existed in actuality, unless the
contrary purpose exists.
Case- State of Punjab vs Mohar Singh (AIR 1955 SC 84)- In this case it was
held by the supreme court that when a new legislation on the same subject
Notes- Umang Sharma

replaces an old law, the new legislation should be looked to know the intention
of the lawmakers. It is necessary to know that whether the lawmakers intend to
keep rights and liabilities mentioned under previous act or not.

REVIVAL OF LEGISLATION
It is a common law principle that when a statute is repealed and the repealing
statute is repealed by another statute, the repeal of the second statute
immediately revives the first statute, assuming that the original statute was not
intended to remain repealed.
Case- Ameer-un- Nissa Begum vs Mahboob Begum (AIR 1955 SC 352)-In this
case it was held that once a repealing statute is repealed, that does not mean
the revival of the repealed statute unless the language of the repealing statute
so provides expressly.

RETROSPECTIVE OPERATION OF STATUTES

A retrospective statute is one that removes or impairs any vested right acquired
under current law, creates a new responsibility, imposes a new duty, or attaches
a new disability to previously completed transactions or considerations. The
statute is rarely interpreted retrospectively. If a statute is worded in wording that
allows for either interpretation, it should be interpreted prospectively.
This notion is founded on the maxim "nova constitutio futuris formam imponere
debet non praeteritis," which states that each new enactment should effect the
future rather than the past. This criterion is not strict or inflexible, but must be
implemented in light of the language of the act and the subject matter with which
it deals. If there are two possible interpretations of sttaute
Generally retrospective operation is given to the statutes in the following cases:
1. If the statute deals with procedural aspect of law.
2. If the statute is a declaratory statute.
3. If the statutes affecting costs.
Case- Jose De Costa vs Bascora Sadasiva Sinai Narcornim (AIR 1975 SC
1843)- In this case it was held that substantive law cannot be given a
retrospective effect but procedural law may be given a retrospective effect.
Case- P. Ganeshwar Rao vs State of Andhra Pradesh (AIR 1988 SC 2608)-
The Supreme Court ruled in this case that the April 28, 1980, amendment to
explanation (c) of rule 2 of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Engineering
Service (Special) Rules, 1960, allowing for the direct recruitment of 37.5 percent
of only substantive vacancies to assistant engineer positions, does not apply to
Notes- Umang Sharma

vacancies that existed before the amendment date because it does not have
retroactive effect.

PYQ
Q. What do you mean by revival of statutes(2015) 1 marks
Q. What are the exceptions of retrospective operation of the act(2015) 1 marks
Q. What is presumption regarding jurisdiction(2016) 1 marks
Q. Write in short the internal aids of interpretation(2017) 1 marks
Q. What do you understand by repeal of statutes(2017) 1 marks
Q. Explain any two external aids to interpretation(2018, 2024) 1 marks
Q. Differentiate between Substantive and procedural law(2018, 2024) 1 marks
Q. What is the meaning of revival in interpretation(2023) 1 marks
Q. Which law can operate retrospectively(2023) 1 marks
Q. What are the internal aids to interpretation? Discuss any four of them in
brief(2018, 2024) 4 marks
Q. Discuss the consequences of repeal and point out the differences between
repeal and expiry(2015) 8 marks
Q. What are the different internal and external aids to interpretation? Explain
with case laws(2016) 8 marks
Q. Discuss the internal aids to interpretation with special reference to Preamble
and definition(2019) 8 marks
Q. Discuss in detail internal aids of interpretation. Mention cases(2023) 8 marks