Description
Lexis Nexis Principles Of Statutory Interpretation by Justice G P Singh
Enacted Laws, especially 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. It is quite often that we find courts and lawyers busy in unfolding the meaning of ambiguous words and expressions and resolving inconsistencies. The age-old process of application of the enacted law has led to formulation of certain rules of interpretation or construction. Words in any language are not scientific symbols having any precise or definite meaning, and language is but an imperfect medium to convey one’s thought, much less of a large assembly consisting of persons of various shades of opinion. It is impossible even for the most imaginative legislature to forestall exhaustively situations and circumstances that may emerge after enacting a statute where its application may be called for. The function of the courts is only to expound and not to legislate. Different judges express the numerous rules of interpretation or construction formulated by courts differently and support may be found in these formulations for apparently contradictory propositions. The present new edition of the book is designed to rationalize the subject of statutory interpretation and to offer new methods by which the practitioner can tackle it. The book sets statutory interpretation in both Indian and Foreign historical background and outlines the views of the great jurists. The basic rules are illustrated and followed by discussion of internal and external aids to construction and of presumption.