The aids of interpretation which are not parts of the statute are known as external or extrinsic aids.

Extrinsic aids may be employed in the construction of statutes if the words and language employed are not free from ambiguity and which cannot be cleared even by resort to intrinsic aids.

Where the words or the language used in a statute are clear, plain, simple then there is absolutely no room for deriving support from external aids.

Dictionaries (शब्दकोश) :-

• Words used in the statute should be interpreted in the light of their ordinary sense & to find out the ordinary sense of the words, dictionaries can naturally be of help.
• But the courts must be careful because it is not necessary that dictionary meanings of a word may be the true meaning in the context because diverse meanings of words are given in a dictionary. It is very difficult for court to choose the correct meaning out of the same.
• For example : Concise Law Dictionary :
  Involve means : to comprise (include) ; to contain; to imply; to include necessarily; to include by rational or logical construction; to connect with something as a natural or logical consequence or effect.
• The courts should therefore, always keep in mind, the context in which a word has been used while choosing the correct meaning of that word (Commissioner of Wealth Tax, Andhra Pradesh v. Officer in Charge.)
• Dictionary meanings of words cannot be looked into in case that word has been statutorily or judicially defined. But in case there is no definition, the courts must take aid of dictionaries to ascertain the meaning of the particular word. ( Prem Pal Varshney v. Union of India )

Motipur Zamindary Co. Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Bihar.

Question was whether sales tax could be levied under the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947 on the sale of sugarcane. The applicant argued, sugarcane being green vegetable was under exempt. Dictionary meaning was quoted in support of the argument.
The Supreme Court rejected the dictionary meaning. Held that in the context of the Act, vegetable mean only such vegetable as can be grown in kitchen garden and used during lunch and dinner as articles of food.

Ramavatar v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer.

The question was whether betel leaves are vegetables and therefore exempt from imposition of sales tax. The dictionary meaning of vegetable was sought to be relied on. The Supreme Court held that, the dictionary meaning could not be said to reflect the true intention of the framers of the sales-tax law and betel leaves should be understood in the same sense in which they are commonly understood. Therefore, sales-tax could be levied on the sale of betel leaves.

State of Uttar Pradesh v. Kores (India) Limited

The appellant issued a notification under section 3-A of the U.P. Sales Tac Act, 1948 under which sale of paper was also to be taxed. The question was whether the carbon paper was paper for the purpose of the notification. The Supreme Court held that carbon paper should be interpreted in its popular or commercial sense. Ordinarily paper is used for writing, printing or packaging purposes and carbon paper is not used for any such purpose. It is a special kind of paper manufactured through a special process and is used for making copies of documents. Therefore, carbon paper was not intended to be covered under the notification.

Employees State Insurance Corporation v. TELCO :

The question was whether respondent were bound to contribute monetarily under ESIC Act, 1948 in repect of apprentices of the company. The dictionary meaning of apprentice shows that, the prime aim of the apprenticeship was to impart some kind of a training by the company to the apprentice under mutually agreed terms and condition. The SC held that even if the apprentice is paid some money by the company, this does not make him an employee of the company and that his status remains that of a learner.

Text-Books (पाठ्यपुस्तके) :-

• Large number of books are available on a particular subject matter of law. Text book do not make laws, they indicate, more or less those principles and statements which have been universally accepted.
• Text books may be referred to by the courts to arrive at the true meaning of an enactment. It is, however, not necessary that the views expressed therein are the views of the courts also. There have been instances of both acceptance and rejection by the courts of the opinions expressed in text books.
• Many times Manu, Yajnavalkya, Kautilyas ‘arthshastra’ , Lokmanya Tilak’s ‘Gita Rahasya’ also books by Mulla have been quoted by courts.
• Courts are not bound by any text book however eminent author may be.
• It is the discretion of courts to accept or reject the views given in the text books.

Keshavanand Bharti v. State of Kerala : A large number of text books were quoted but most of the judges of the Supreme Court deciding this case were of the opinion that in view of many opinions and counter opinions it was not desirable to follow the opinions and that the safest way for the court was to interpret keeping in mind always the whole context of the issues.

Jethabhai v. Manabhai : A commentary in a text-book is not binding on the Court, but when it is to be found in a learned (having extensive information) treaties on a relevant law, it can and does have persuasive value.

Ramlal v. State of Rajasthan : Question regarding ‘camel milk’ whether included in “Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955…..Courts referred American Encyclopedia, world book encyclopedia, research papers. The court came to the conclusion that the camel milk is nutritious and was included in the said rule.

Translations (अनुवाद) :-

• Translating or transforming the text from one language.
• Article 348 of The Constitution of India provides for compulsory use of English language in all proceeding and authoritative text(eg, bills, Acts, orders etc) of HC & SC .
• Article 348(3) provides that, where the Legislature of a State has prescribed any language other than the English language, then, a translation of the same in the English language published under the authority of the Governor of the State in the Official Gazette of that State shall be deemed to be the authoritative text thereof in the English language under this article.
• 58^th amendment of Constitution (1987) introduced Article 394(A) which provides for publication of the translation of the Constitution in Hindi language. Also, translation in Hindi be considered to have the same meaning as that of the original text in English language and this Hindi translation of Constitution shall be authoritative for all purpose. And, if any difficulty arises in so construing any part of such translation, the President shall cause the same to be revised suitably. .

Law Commission Report (कायदा आयोगाचे अहवाल) :

Function : To monitor the working of the enactment and submit report to legislature time to time. Based on the report of the Law commission, parliament decides about the amendment, repeal etc of the Act.

Report of Law commission is the accurate source of information for the determination of the mischief or the defect that is remedied by enacting the law and can be admitted as an external aid of interpresentation while deciding a case.

Smt. Premlata Sharma v. Bhagwat Prasad Sharma Dehradun : The court can look into recommendations of the law commission while interpreting a provision which has been amended on its basis.

Mithilesh Kumari v. Prem Behari Khare : Law commission report may be referred to as external aid to construction of the provisions. What imporatance can be given to it will depend on the facts and circumstances.

Inquiry Commission Report (चौकशी आयोगाचे अहवाल) :-

• A commission may be appointed by the parliament to inquire into the evil or defect for which parliament wants to enact law.
• The inquiry commission studies the prevalent circumstances about and submit its report to the parliament.
• On the report of Inquiry commission, parliament drafts the bill.
• Thus the report of Inquiry Commission, parliament drafts bill.
• Thus, the report of the inquiry commission, on the basis of which, the statute was enacted can be used as an external aid
• Example : In TOPA, section 53-A was inserted on the basis of recommendation of special committee set up by government of India ( to provide protection to a transferee ).
  In Express Newspapers (P) Ltd., the press commission report was referred.
• There is an Act, ‘The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1953’….The long title of the Act states as “An Act to provide for the appointment of Commissions of Inquiry and for vesting such Commissions with certain powers.”

Deena v. Union of India : The Supreme Court referred several reports of commissions and opinions of experts and relied upon them while discussing that, deeath by hanging was not violative of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Madanlal F Dudhediya v. Changdeo Sugar Mills Ltd : Report of a committee appointed to bring about changes in Company Law resulting in the passing of amending Act was referred.

CIT, AP v. Jayalakshmi Rice & Oil Mills Contractor Co. : It was held that the report of special committee which had been appointed by the Government of India to examin the provisions of the Bill, which later became the Partnership Act, could not be admitted for interpreting the provisions of the Act.

But a different view was taken by the Supreme Court in RS Nayak v. AR Antulay. The Court in this case held that, report of joint parliamentary committee and report of a commission set up for collecting information leading to the legislation are permissible external aids to construction of the Act.

Debates (संसदीय चर्चा) :-

• Any Act, before it is passed is thoroughly discussed on the floor of the Parliament or the state legislature.
• Traditionally courts used to consider but in moderntimes, such debates are not admitted as an aid to interpretation because, those who did not speak, may not have agreed. Those who speak, might differ from each other. The only proper way to construe is language used in the Act.
• They are not admissible for construction but when, when, one has to determine the object and purpose of an Act, they can be looked into for proper understanding of the circumstances at the time of enactment.

State of W.B v. Union of India : A statute as passed by the Parliament is the expression of collective intention of the legislature as a whole. Any statement made by any individual can not be used to cut down the generality of the words used in statute.

P.V. Narsimha Rao v. State : The statement of minister not taken into account for the purpose of interpreting the provision of the enactment, but can be looked to ascertain mischief(defect) sought to be remedied by the legislation and object and purpose for which the legislation is enacted.

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras : The Supreme Court rejected the speech made in the course of debate as an aid to interpretation. The court observed that such speech does not reflect the mental process lying behind the majority of the voters that passed the bill.

State of T.C. (Travancore-Cochin) v. Bombay Company Ltd. : The speeches made by the members of the Constituent Assembly in the course of the debates on the draft Constitution cannot be made use of in interpreting an Article of the Constitution.

R. Travaux Preparation (Historical Setting)

(ऐतिहासिक पार्श्वभूमी) :-

• It’s a French word. Travaux preparatories means preparatory works ( Mostly used for creating a treaty )
• It constitutes the materials used in preparing the ultimate form of statute. It is used to clarify the intent of the makers of the statute.
• Three aspects : i) surrounding circumstances, ii) State of the law. iii) parliamentary history. All these three aspects taken together for interpretation is known as R. Travaux Preparation.
• It is to :- i) find out the intention of legislature. ii) The state of the law and judicial decisions made prior to the passing of the law. iii) Take judicial notice of the evidence showing the surrounding circumstances and historical investigation of these circumstances. iv) The object of the legislation, how the legislature achieved that object can be determined by resorting to the parliamentary history.
• If the words are clear, R. Travaux Preparation have no role. If uncertain/ambigious, R. Travaux Preparation can be useful in ascertaining the object and intention of the legislature.

In R.S. Nayak v. A.R.Antulay, Historical evolution of section 21 of IPC was adopted as an external aid to construction. SC held, MLA was not and is not a public servant as defined in that section.

In State of W.B. v. Niripendra Nath Bagchi, it is held that to find out the meaning of law, recourse may legitimately be had to the prior state of law, the evil sought to be removed and the process by which the law was evolved.

Contemporanea Exposition (समकालीन अन्वयार्थ) :-

• It is based on the maxim “Contemporanea expositio est optima environment fortissimma in lege.” Which means, the best way to construe a document is to read it as it would have read when made.
• This maxim means that contemporaneous exposition is the best and strongest in the law.
• The best exposition of a statute or any other document is that which it has reeived from contemporary authority.
• It applies only to the construction of ambigious language in old statutes.

Doypak systems (P) Ltd. v. Union of India : .… Not applicable to modern statutes. This is confined to the construction of ambigious language used in very old statutes.

Senior Electrical Inspector v. Lakshmi Narain Chopra : The SC has said that, the maxim should be applied only in the construction of ancient statutes but not to comparatively modern statutes.

There are some limitations on the application of this rule :

1. It can be called in aid only when the staute is obscure or ambiguous and when intrinsic aid is of no help.
2. Applies only to ancient statutes, not to modern statutes.
3. If an ancient error is proved, court would without hesitation refuse to follow such construction.

J.K. Cotton Spinning and Weaving Milla Limited v. Union of India : The Supreme Court held that the maxim contemporanea exposition is applicable in construing ancient statutes but not in interpreting Acts which are comparatively modern.

In Raja Ram v. State of Bihar, The Supreme Court refused to apply the rule of contempornea xpositio while interpreting section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Statutes in Pari Materia :-

Pari= Same & Materia=Matter. Thus, Pari Materia is the statutes dealing with the same subject-matter or forming part of the same system. ( The rule of context which says that a statute must be read as a whole as words are to be understood in their context, it permits reference to other statutes in pari materia.)

• When the statute is ambiguous, the intention of the legislature may be determined from the statutes in ‘pari materia’. i.e. the statute dealing with the same subject-matter.
• 
  In an American case, pari materia was explained as ‘statutes are in pari materia which relate to the same person or thing, or to the same class of persons or things. It is a phrase applicable to public statutes or general laws made at different times and in reference to the same subject.
  (Identical talks about something that really looks alike with something else, but they’re not the “same” For example: Twins are identical but they’re not the same person.)
• Lord Mansfield emphasized that ‘where there are different statutes in pari materia, though made at different times, or even expired, and not referring to each other, they shall be taken and construed together, as one system and as explanatory of each other.
• It is not necessary that entire subject matter in the two statutes should be identical before any provision in one may be held to be in pari materia with some provision in the other. Example can be taken from State of Madras v. A Vaidyanath Aiyer

State of Madras v. A Vaidyanath Aiyer : In this case sec4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, which directs that on proof that the accused has accepted any gratification other than the legal remuneration, it shall be presumed unless the contrary is established by the accused that the gratification was accepted as a bribe, has been held to be in pari materia with the subject matter dealt with by the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The definition of the expression ‘shall presume’ in the Evidence Act has been utilized to construe the words ‘it shall be presumed’ in section4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. ( i.e. section 20 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988)

(“Shall presume”.—Whenever it is directed by this Act that the Court shall presume a fact, it shall regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved.)

Example : The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, section 3 defines
” immovable property” does not include standing timber, growing crops or grass.”

The General Clauses Act, 1897 section 3(26) defines
“immovable property” shall include land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth”

The rule has following merits :-

1. It avoids contradictions between series of statutes dealing with the same subject-matter.
2. The application of this rule allows the use of an earlier statute to throw light on the meaning of a phrase used in a later statute in the same context.
3. It permits the raising of presumption in the absence of any context. ( presumption means conclusion drawn from facts).
4. It enables the use of later statute as parliamentary exposition of the meaning of ambiguous expression in an earlier statute.

In State of MP v. GS Dall & Flour Mills : It was held that, just as the use of same language in a later statute as was used in an earlier one in pari materia is suggestive of the intention of the legislature.

Section 8 of The General Clauses Act, 1897 states that, “Where this Act, or any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of a former enactment, then references in any other enactment or in any instrument to the provision so repealed shall, unless a different intention appears, be construed as references to the provision so re-enacted.”
So here we can say that, while interpreting consolidating statutes the statute that is repealed but reproduced substantially are treated as in pari materia, and therefore, judicial pronouncements made under the earlier Act have been held to be applicable to the substancially identicle provisions in the repealing Act.

Shamrao Vithal Co-op Bank Ltd. v. M/s Star Glass work : The Bombay High Court observed that, when a particular provision of the earlier statute is incorporated in the subsequent Act, such provision so understood in the first Act at the time of incorporation has to be given the same meaning in the subsequent Act.

Ahmedabad Pvt. Primary Teachers Association v. Administrative officer : The SC held that, the principle of statutes in pari materia applies. While interpreting word ‘employee’ under Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 the SC remarked that, this word should be construed by referring to other labour enactments dealing with the same subject or forming part of the same system.

Raj Gupta v. Industrial Tribunal IV, Lucknow : In this case, a decision interpreting a Central Act has been used for interpreting corresponding provisions of a State Act holding that, they were in pari materia. If the statutes are not in pari materia, the same word having been used in two different Act may not have the same meaning.

In Maharashtra State Electricity Board v. Arvind P Joshi, the Bombay HC held that, definition of expression in one statute cannot be adopted for construction of that expression in another statute.

Foreign Decisions :-

Indian courts have permitted in the interpretation of Indian statutes with sobered use of those foreign decisions of the countries which follow the same system of jurisprudence as the Indian Jurisprudence and which are interpreted on statutes in pari materia.

In Banglore water supply case, The SC said, “ statutory construction must be home-spun even if hospitable(friendly) to alien thinking.

Liverpool & London SP&I Assn Ltd. v. Sea Success : The Supreme Court is not bound by foreign court decisions, they have only persuasive value. But if they are in consonance (सुसंवाद),

With Indian Law, the courts can borrow the principles in view the changing global scenario.

However, in some cases Indian courts have not accepted an interpretation given by English Courts of same or similar words. For example, in MV Elisabeth v. Harwan Investment & Trading Pvt. Ltd., court differed from English decisions and interpreted the words ‘damage caused by a ship’ as not limited to physical damage done by a ship by reason of its coming into contact with something, but also to include damage to cargo carried in a ship. ( as there was no Act in India covering claims for damage to cargo carried in a ship.)

Superintendence co. of India v. Krishna Murgai : The SC said that it is not permissible to import the principles of English Law ‘de hors ( other than/outside the scope of) the statutory provisions, unless a provision is such that it cannot be understood without the aid of English Law.

Registrar of Trade Marks v. Ashok Chandra Rakhit Ltd. : it was held that, as the law of trade marks adopted in the Indian Trade Marks merely reproduce the English Law, with only slight modifications, a reference to the judicial decisions on the corresponding section of the English Act is apposite (योग्य) and helpful.

International Law/Treaties/Conventions :-

Principles of international law whenever applicable operate as a statutory implication. Contextual meaning to a statute is to be assigned .
When a statute is required to be read with the international treaty, consideration of the provisions contained in the latter is imperative (Sarabjit Singh Rick v. State of Jharkhand.)

Although international treaties and conventions may not be a part of our municipal law, the same can be referred to and followed (SB Sinha v. State of Jharkhand.)