“As per Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Twelfth South Asian Edition, Page 307), one of the meanings assigned to the verb ‘consume’, derived from latin ‘consumere’ (con – ‘altogether’ + sumere – ‘take out’), is ‘eat, drink or ingest – use up – (especially of a fire) completely destroy’. The noun derived from this verb is […]
Read more "Consume"“Ramnath & Co., who had been engaged in providing services to certain foreign buyers of frozen seafood and/or marine products and had received service charges from such foreign buyers/enterprises in foreign exchange, claimed deduction under Section 80-O of The Income Tax Act, 1961. As noticed, Section 80-O of the Act has a unique purpose and […]
Read more "The Dictionary Meaning / The Revival of Ray XLVII"“The expression ‘shall not be necessary’ is used in various statutes and even in the Constitution. This expression is used in the first proviso to Article 311(2) and in proviso to Article 320(3). Some of the cases in which similar expression occurring in statutes was taken into account and effect was given to its plain […]
Read more "Shall Not Be Necessary / The Revival of Ray XLV"“S. Ambika Devi entered into a tripartite agreement with M/s. Nandan Biomatrix Ltd. and its franchisee M/s. Herbz India. She purchased 750 kilograms of wet musli at the rate of Rs. 400/- per kilogram. M/s. Nandan Biomatrix Ltd was to buy back the produce at a minimum price of Rs. 1,000/- per kilogram. It […]
Read more "Harassment of Agriculturists"“Reliance has been placed on Sri Nasiruddin v. State Transport Appellate Tribunal, (1975) 2 SCC 671. The word ‘or’ was given grammatical meaning. It was held that the word ‘or’ cannot be read as ‘and’. They should be considered in an ordinary sense. If two different interpretations are possible, the Court will adopt that which […]
Read more "Article No. 800: The Revival of Ray XL / Disjunctive, Conjunctive II"“The maxim is quite well-known. The rule flowing from the maxim ‘generalia specialibus non derogant’ has been i) considered in Hari Shankar Jain, (1978) 4 SCC 16 and ii) explained in Mary Seward v. Owner of “Vera Cruz”, (1884) 10 AC 59, 68. “Where there are general words in a later legislation capable of reasonable […]
Read more "Generalia Specialibus Non Derogant"Five Judges in Dr. Shah Faesal v. Union of India, [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1099 of 2019] have decided the following. “The rule of per incuriam means a Judgment passed in ignorance of a relevant statute or any other binding authority [See, Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd., 1944 KB 718 (CA)]. The view that […]
Read more "Per Incuriam III"“It will be noticed that the definition is an exhaustive one as it uses the expression “means and includes”. It is settled law that such definitions are meant to be exhaustive in nature [2014 (10) SCALE 394].” “It will be noticed that the definition is a ‘means’ and ‘includes’ one. It is well settled that […]
Read more "A “Means and Includes” Definition IV"Section 362 begins with the words “save as otherwise provided by this Code or by any other law for the time being in force”. Legislature was aware that there are situations where altering or reviewing of a Criminal Court Judgment is contemplated in the Code itself or any other law for the time being in […]
Read more "Section 362 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973"“It is not quite accurate to say that the word ‘may’, by itself, acquires the meaning of ‘must’ or ‘shall’ sometimes.” – Dharti Dhan, (1977) 2 SCC 166. “It is not to be taken that once the word ‘may’ is used, it per se would be directory. In other words, it is not merely the […]
Read more "May & Shall"An unfortunate incident occurred at Pemberton Soaring Centre at Pemberton in British Columbia. The following were considered: The Aircraft Act, 1934; The Aircraft Rules, 1937; The Aeronautics Act, 1985 [Canada]; The Canadian Aviation Regulations [SOR/96433], Concise Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary [9th Edition, 2015] and Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary [4th Edition, 2013]. SC reached the conclusion: […]
Read more "The Contra Proferentem Rule VI"“This Court has held that Judgments of Courts are not to be construed as statutes, neither are they to be read as Euclid’s theorems. All observations made must be read in the context in which they appear. This Court in Amrit Lal Manchanda, (2004) 3 SCC 75 held as follows: “Judges interpret words of statutes. […]
Read more "Euclid’s Theorem III"“It is a well established position that when statutes are unambiguous, the Court must adopt plain and natural meaning irrespective of the consequences [Nelson Motis v. Union of India, (1992) 4 SCC 711]. On a bare reading of Section 207 of The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 no other interpretation is possible. We hold that the […]
Read more "Cloned Copy of Electronic Record"“To read Section 36, prior to The 2015 Amendment Act, as inferring something negative, namely, that where the time for making an application under Section 34 has not expired and therefore, on such application being made within time, an automatic-stay ensues, is to read something into Section 36 which is not there at all. This […]
Read more "Section 36 of The Arbitration Act"Section 2(a) of The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 defines ‘child’ as a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age. A ‘child marriage’ means a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child. Hardev Singh […]
Read more "Prohibition of Child Marriage"“Where the Courts find that the words appear to have been accidentally omitted, or if adopting a construction deprives certain existing words of all meaning, it is permissible to supply additional words but Courts should not easily read words which have not been expressly enacted. The Court should construct the provisions harmoniously having regard to […]
Read more "Word Supply II"“The rule of interpretation of Contra Proferentem has been pressed into service. As observed in United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pushpalaya Printers, 2004 (3) SCC 694 : “It is also settled position in law that if there is any ambiguity or a term is capable of two possible interpretations, one beneficial to the insured […]
Read more "The Contra Proferentem Rule V"“Reliance is placed on Sri Nasiruddin, (1975) 2 SCC 671. Muhammed Ashraf, AIR 2009 KER 14 took support from the dictum in Holmes v. Bradfield Rural District Council, 1949 (1) All ER 381 and also in Sri Nasiruddin, (1975) 2 SCC 671 wherein this Court adopted ‘just, reasonable and sensible’ interpretation.” – Hon’ble Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, The Authorised […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray XXIX"It is, most often, not permissible to read words in a statute which are not there. But, where the alternative lies between either supplying by implication certain words which appear to have been accidentally omitted, or adopting a construction which deprives certain existing words of all meaning, it is permissible to supply the words. “In […]
Read more "Word Supply I / The Revival of Ray XXVII"“When a Court ignores the binding precedent of a Larger Bench, the Judgment so delivered is held to be per incuriam and has no precedential value. The principle of per incuriam has been developed by the English Courts in relaxation of the rule of stare decisis. In practice per incuriam is per ignoratium. See, Paragraph […]
Read more "Per Incuriam II"