Office - Indian Laws - General

Meaning of word Office In the case of P.V. Narasimha Rao v. State (CBI/SPE), 1998 (4) TMI 503 - SUPREME COURT (LB) has clarified the word office in the following manner: 61. The word office is normally understood to mean a position to which certain duties are attached, especially a place of trust, authority or service under constituted authority . (See Oxford Shorter English Dictionary, 3rd Edn., p. 1362.) In McMillan v. Guest, (1942) 1 All ER 606 (HL), Lord Wright has said: The word office is of indefinite content. Its various meanings cover four columns of the New English Dictionary, but I take as the most relevant for purposes of this case the following: A position or place to which certain duties are attached, especially one of a more or less public character. In the same case Lord Atkin gave the following meaning: an office or employment which was subsisting, permanent, substantive position, which had an existence independent of the person who filled it, which went on and was filled in succession by successive holders. In Statesman (P) Ltd. v. H.R. Deb, 1968 (4) TMI 83 - SUPREME COURT and Mahadeo v. Shantibhai, (1969) 2 SCR 422 this Court has adopted the meaning given by Lord Wright when it said: An office means no more than a position to which certain duties are attached. [THE STATE OF GUJARAT VERSUS MANSUKHBHAI KANJIBHAI SHAH- 2020 (4) TMI 882 - SUPREME COURT]