“COURTS & INTENT OF LEGISLATURE

ENACTING THE STATUTE”

(Synopsis)

Submitted to:
Mr. Kamble Sayabanna K (Saiba Kamble)
(Faculty, MNLU Mumbai)

Submitted By:
UJJWAL RAJORA
Student, B. A. LL. B. (Hons.)
Semester – VII, Roll No. 2016-051

Maharashtra National Law University

2nd and 6th Floor, MTNL Building, Technology St, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai,
Maharashtra 400076
INTRODUCTION

We are living in a democratic world where people have rights and obligations toward the
state as well as the society. But, ‘How is this order maintained in the society?’ It is done
because of the presence of ‘Law’. The Law maintains an order for just and stable existence of
the mankind because it is evident from the human tendency that some kind of sanctions is
necessary to regulate the behavior and it is done only by the presence of ‘Laws’. This fact can
also be proved if we go by the history of the mankind starting from Stone Age to the Cyber
Age. Law is that element which binds the members of the community together in their
adherence to recognized values and standards.

The Law derives its presence in society from various source like Customs, Precedents and
Legislations. But, the most authentic and reliable source among all sources, is ‘Statutes’ or
popularly known as ‘Enacted laws, Modern acts and rules. These are made by the parliament
in consideration of the demand of the hour and the need of the society. These are used as the
primary source by any judicial authority for dispensing justice in their day to day operation
ranging from the smallest Magistrate Court to the Supreme Court of India. Each and every
judicial and administrative body works as per the enacted laws, prescribed rules and
regulations.1

But there is a problem with this source of law and that is with the change of time, the society
changes and this finally changes the mindset, leading to a need for its interpretation by the
courts. These enacted laws, specially the Modern Acts and rules, are drafted by legal experts
and it is expected that the language used in that particular statute will leave little room for
interpretation or construction. But the reality is different as those persons who bear this task
of application of law, finds difficulty in interpreting the meaning of the ambiguous words and
expressions while resolving the inconsistencies. The main reason for such problem is the
indifference in the person who drafts the law and the person who applies the law in working.
Thus, to address this problem of application of enacted laws certain rules of ‘Interpretation’
or construction has been formulated and one is ‘Intention of Legislature’.2

1
Statutory Interpretation, available at: http://www.ijtr.nic.in/articles/art21.pdf (Visited on September 8, 2019).

2
Legislative Intent in Interpretation of Statutes, available at:
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1152/Interpretation-of-Statutes.html (Visited on September 8, 2019).
This interpretation or construction of statute by the court is done when it cannot go through
the ordinary rules of interpretation then the court do it by just looking at the intention of
legislature and it is derived from the words of the statute which was used while enacting the
statute.

But, if we go by the Indian context, courts have often gone beyond the words of the statute
and interpreted statutory provisions in a manner as to what they considered as be socially and
morally sound. This is the main reason that judicial activism has been praised and the slight
circumvention of the canons of interpretation has been ignored in the Indian Judicial system. 3
But, such “activism” brings into question as to, what is the theoretical binding value of
legislative intent? This gave rise to an issue that whether the role of legislative intent in
statutory construction has over the years dwindled considerably or not. But we will do it later
on; first of all, we will look what is the concept behind this intention of legislature and
interpretation of statutes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

1. Justice G.P. Singh, Principles of Statutory Interpretation (14th ed, Lexis Nexis
Publications 2016).
2. Dr. M.P. Tandon, Interpretation of Statutes & Legislation (12th ed, Allahabad Law
Agency 2016).

Websites reference

1. Legislative Intent in Interpretation of Statutes, available at:

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1152/Interpretation-of-Statutes.html
(Visited on September 8, 2019).
2. Judicial Interpretation, available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_interpretation (Visited on October 27, 2016).
3. Statutory Interpretation, available at: http://www.ijtr.nic.in/articles/art21.pdf (Visited
on September 8, 2019).

3
Statutory Interpretation, available at: http://www.ijtr.nic.in/articles/art21.pdf (Visited on September 8, 2019).
4. Google Scholar-Legislative Intent, available at: https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?
start=10&q=courts+and+intention+of+the+legislature+in+enacting+the+statut
e&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5 (Visited on September 8, 2019).