Us Approach towards Extrinsic Aids

The starting point in statutory construction is the language of the statute itself. The Supreme Court often recites the “plain meaning rule,” that, if the language of the statute is clear, there is no need to look outside the statute to its legislative history in order to ascertain the statute’s meaning.It was once axiomatic that this “rule” was honored more in the breach than in the observance. However, the Court has begun to place more emphasis on statutory text and less emphasis on legislative history and other sources “extrinsic” to that text. More often than before, statutory text is the ending point as well as the starting point for interpretation.

Statutory Interpretation