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TMI Blog2002 (3) TMI 912X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nion from the Chairman of the Press Council of India as to whether a person who had already been a member of the Council for two terms earlier is eligible for being nominated though such nomination did not amount to re-nomination, that is to say, at the time of being nominated he was not a retiring member. In response, the Council circulated an opinion of the President dated 30.9.1997, the substance whereof is, that Section 6(7) debars the same person from holding the office as a member of the Council for more than two terms in his life. The appellant and the Federation, respondent no.2 herein, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Delhi seeking quashing of the opinion of the Chairman of the Press Council. A learned Single Judge of the High Court directed rule nisi to issue and on 9.12.1997 issued an interim direction that the decision of the Press Council would be subject to the decision in the writ petition. The Federation __ respondent No.2 nominated the appellant and also his son as a cover candidate. The appellant's nomination was not accepted by the Council on the ground that he having remained a member of the Council for two terms, was ineligible for nomination ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e appellant, all that the provision bars is a member holding two terms of office successively. According to the respondent Council the total number of terms for which a member can hold office, whether in succession or otherwise, is two, as the provision makes it permissible for any member to seek re-nomination for one term only. This is the narrow controversy. Clearly the language of Sub-Section (7) of Section 6 abovesaid, is plain and simple. There are two manners of reading the provision. Read positively, it confers a right on a retiring member to seek re- nomination. Read in a negative manner, the provision speaks of a retiring member not being eligible for re-nomination for more than one term. The spell of ineligibility is cast on 're-nomination' of a member who is 'retiring'. The event determinative of eligibility or ineligibility is 're-nomination', and the person, by reference to whom it is to be read, is 'a retiring member'. 'Retiring member' is to be read in contra-distinction with a member/person retired some time in past, and so, would be called a retired or former member. 'Re' means again, and is freely used as prefix. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aning to the words of a statute independently of their context or of the purpose of the statute, but rather that he adopts a meaning which is appropriate in relation to the immediately obvious and unresearched context and purpose in and for which they are used. By enabling citizens (and their advisers) to rely on ordinary meanings unless notice is given to the contrary, the legislature contributes to legal certainty and predictability for citizens and to greater transparency in its own decisions, both of which are important values in a democratic society (p.32 ibid). The learned author cites three quotations from speeches of Lord Reid in House of Lords cases, the gist whereof is: (i) in determining the meaning of any word or phrase in a statute ask for the natural or ordinary meaning of that word or phrase in its context in the statute and follow the same unless that meaning leads to some result which cannot reasonably be supposed to have been the legislative intent; (ii) rules of construction are our servants and not masters; and (iii) a statutory provision cannot be assigned a meaning which it cannot reasonably bear; if more than one meaning are capable you can choose one but be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed of testing the question of interpretation upon the plain words of the Article and opined that there is no warrant for reading into the words quoted any qualification and the strict grammatical meaning of the words is the only safe guide. (see Nagendra Nath Dey and Anr. Vs. Suresh Chandra Dey and Ors. AIR 1932 P.C. 165). Viscount Maugham in General Accident Fire Life Assurance Corporation Ltd. Vs. Janmahomed Abdul Rahim AIR 1941 P.C. 6 approved the principle that it may be desirable for an act to receive such construction as the language in its plain meaning imports. The same principle has been followed by the Supreme Court of India in several decisions. Suffice it to refer to Siraj-il-Haq Khan and Ors. VS. The Sunni Central Board of Waqf U.P. and Ors. 1959 SCR 1287, wherein P.B. Gajendragadkar, J. (as His Lordship then was) said that effect must be given to the strict grammatical meaning of the words used. Without multiplying the authorities we would still like to refer to two more decisions which we think are apposite. In F.S. Gandhi (Dead) by Lrs. Vs. Commissioner of Wealth Tax (1990) 3 SCC 624, the expression where the interest is available to an assessee for a period not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Minister could be 'satisfied' at the time of making the order. As appears from the passages of his broadcast statement which are cited above, he failed to consider the right question. He considered only whether a breach had been committed, and not whether the school was at the time of his order being carried on in contravention of any of the provisions of the Act. Thus he had no jurisdiction to make the order at the date on which he made it . The Division Bench, in its impugned judgment, entered into tracing the legislative history and tried to find out the object of enactment and intention of the Legislature. The effort made by the Division Bench can be appreciated but regrettably the deductions drawn by the Bench are based on no material. In fact, the learned Judges of the Division Bench fell into the same error as has been pointed out above, that is, of attributing such intention to Legislature as suited their own view of the policy behind enactment. M.H. Beg, J. warned against beginning with a theory as to what the real purpose or need is or could be, for the danger is that we may be injecting a subjective notion or purpose of our own into what is, after all a leg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er of a committee: (a) if he has held any such office on that committee during two consecutive terms whether full or part;. In all the three illustrations of drafting, the intended bar against holding the given office for more than two terms (as provided) is clearly and categorically spelled out. Having given the three illustrations, the learned single Judge held that if the construction suggested by the Council was to be accepted, one would be required to read 'retiring member' as 'a retired member'. Yet another reason assigned by the learned single Judge, and rightly so, is that the right to be appointed as a member having been conferred by the law, ineligibility entailing prohibition or bar on being appointed to an office should be clearly stated or positively spelled out, in absence whereof the same cannot be read into the provision on the basis of the assumed intention of fulfilling the object of the statute. The learned single Judge quoted very apt and appropriate observations of Lord Watson in Salomon Vs. Saloman Co., (1897) AC 22, 38 to the effect :- 'Intention of the Legislature' is a common but very slippery phrase, which, popularly u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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