Punctuations As An Aid To Interpretation
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 2, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 3, 2023
Saura Jitendra Patil, Thakur Ramnarayan College of Law, Mumbai
Page: 57-66
ABSTRACT
One simple rule that is followed by law professionals, be it judges or pleaders, is apply the law, as it is given by the legislature. When the case is clear and has clean margins and statute is straight and unambiguous, following this rule is easy. But people hardly come to court with such clean cases. Thus, the judges have to interpret the law. Interpretation is understanding the will of the legislature. For this purpose, the courts can use the aids to interpretation. These aids can be internal or external or they can be primary rules or secondary rules. Primarily, it is the internal aids that are the most reliable since they are available within the statute.
Punctuations are a kind of internal aid. They are a minor element and yet they still serve a useful purpose. Study on this topic may seem ridiculous, for punctuations are a very inconsequential part when it comes to aids to interpretation. But the reason to study punctuations in context of interpretation is because of the difference it does make. Punctuations cannot be completely overlooked and this can be supported by various case laws. This study puts punctuations as an aid to interpretation under microscopic view and focuses on its undeniable importance.
