Leading Cases on Interpretation of Statutes

Interpretation of statutes is built on a relatively small set of cases cited again and again. This digest brings together twenty of them, ten English and ten Indian, each reduced to the principle it stands for and its holding in a line. Each case is treated in full in the topic indicated, so this note is a revision sheet for recall and citation.

1. Ten English Cases

Figure 1: The English foundations

• Rules of interpretation. Heydon's Case (mischief), Sussex Peerage and Whiteley v Chappell (literal), Grey v Pearson (golden), Smith v Hughes (mischief applied) (Topics 3 to 5)
• Particular statutes. Vagliano for codes, Cape Brandy for taxing statutes (Topics 10, 21)
• Judicial role and aids. Magor and St Mellons against gap-filling, East End Dwellings for legal fictions, Pepper v Hart for Hansard (Topics 11, 13, 14)

2. Ten Indian Cases

Figure 2: The Indian landmarks

• Rules and approaches. RBI v Peerless for text and context, Raghunath Rai Bareja for the literal rule, Bengal Immunity for the mischief rule, Venkataramana Devaru for harmonious construction (Topics 1, 3, 5, 7)
• Limits and particular provisions. Padma Sundara Rao on casus omissus, Babu Ram Upadhya on mandatory provisions, Dilip Kumar on exemption notifications (Topics 10, 11, 18)
• Constitutional doctrines. RMDC on severability, Golak Nath on prospective overruling, Kesavananda Bharati on basic structure (Topics 31, 34, 36)

3. Frequently Asked Questions

Which are the most important English cases on interpretation?

Heydon's Case (1584) for the mischief rule; the Sussex Peerage Case (1844) and Whiteley v Chappell (1868) for the literal rule; Grey v Pearson (1857) for the golden rule; Bank of England v Vagliano (1891) for codifying statutes; Cape Brandy Syndicate (1921) for taxing statutes; Magor and St Mellons (1952) on the judicial role; East End Dwellings (1952) on legal fictions; Smith v Hughes (1960) applying the mischief rule; and Pepper v Hart (1993) on Hansard.

Which are the most important Indian cases on interpretation?

RBI v Peerless (1987) on text and context; Raghunath Rai Bareja (2006) on the literal rule; Bengal Immunity (1955) on the mischief rule; Venkataramana Devaru (1958) on harmonious construction; Babu Ram Upadhya (1961) on mandatory provisions; Padma Sundara Rao (2002) on casus omissus; Dilip Kumar (2018) on exemption notifications; and RMDC (1957), Golak Nath (1967) and Kesavananda Bharati (1973) on constitutional doctrines.

4. Related Topics

• Topic 39: Comparative Revision. Rules, aids, maxims and doctrines side by side.
• Topic 1: Meaning, Purpose and Approaches. Where the subject begins.