Principles for Understanding the Role of Context, Dictionary Meanings, and Legislative Intent - Indian Laws - General

Principles for Understanding the Role of Context, Dictionary Meanings, and Legislative Intent To quote from Principles of Statutory Interpretation (Chief Justice G.P. Singh, Seventh Edition, 1999, pp. 258-259), when a word is not defined in the Act itself, it is permissible to refer to dictionaries to find out the general sense in which that word is understood in common parlance. However, in selecting one out of the various meanings of a word, regard must always be had to the context as it is a fundamental rule that the meanings of words and expressions used in an Act must take their colour from the context in which they appear. Therefore, when the context makes the meaning of a word quite clear, it becomes unnecessary to search for and select a particular meaning out of the diverse meanings a word is capable of, according to lexicographers. As stated by KRISHNA IYER, J. Dictionaries are not dictators of statutory construction where the benignant mood of a law , and more emphatically, the definition clause furnish a different denotation. In the words of JEEVAN REDDY, J.: A statute cannot always be construed with the dictionary in one hand and the statute in the other. Regard must also be had to the scheme, context and to the legislative history. JUDGE LEARNED HAND cautioned not to make a fortress out of the dictionary but to pay more attention to the sympathetic and imaginative discovery of the purpose or object of the statute as a guide to its meaning. Reference - U.O.I. ORS. VERSUS HARJEET SINGH SANDHU ETC.- 2001 (4) TMI 908 - SUPREME COURT