Phrases – such as: ‘question of law’ – are open textual expressions, used in statutes to convey a certain meaning which Legislature would not have intended to be read in a pedantic manner. When words allow narrow as well as wide interpretations, Courts have developed art and technique of finding correct meanings by looking at words in their context. Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy in Reserve Bank of India v. Peerless General Finance Investment Company Ltd., (1987) 1 SCC 424 observed:

One may well say if text is texture, context is what gives color. Neither can be ignored. Both are important. No part of a statute and no word of a statute can be construed in isolation. They have to be construed so that every word has a place and everything is in its place.

– Hon’ble Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, SEBI v. Mega Corporation Limited, [Civil Appeal No. 2104 of 2009].