The Contextual Approach by Sir Rupert Cross : A variant of Contextual approach
Contextual reading is a well-known proposition of interpretation of statute. The clauses of a statute should be construed with reference to the context vis-à-vis the other provisions so as to make a consistent enactment of the whole statute relating to the subject-matter. The rule of 'ex visceribus actus' should be resorted to in a situation of this nature. “We are concerned with the reason and object for which the amendments have to be made. We must take into consideration the text and context of the amending Acts and the circumstances in which they had to be brought about.[1]” Dictionaries are not dictators of statutory construction where the benignant mood of a law, and more emphatically, the definition clause furnish a different denotation. In the words of Jeevan Reddy, J. A statute cannot always be construed with the dictionary in one hand and the statute in the other. Regard must also be had to the scheme, context and to the legislative history. Judge Learned Hand cautioned not to make a fortress out of the dictionary but to pay more attention to the sympathetic and imaginative discovery of the purpose or object of the statute as a guide to its meaning.[2]
The Supreme Court of India had observed to the extent that even the meaning of the words not defined in the Statutes should be assigned after reading the same into the context.
“To find the meaning of a word or expression not defined in an enactment the courts apply the subject and object rule which means ascertain carefully the subject of the enactment where the word or expression occurs and have regard to the object which the Legislature has in view. Forego the strict grammatical or etymological propriety of language, even its popular use; let the subject or the context in which they are used and the object which the Legislature seeks to attain be your lenses through which look for the meaning to be ascribed In selecting one out of the various meanings of a word, regard must always be had to the context as it is a fundamental rule that the meanings of words and expressions used in an Act must take their color from the context in which they appear. Therefore when the context makes the meaning of a word quite clear, it becomes unnecessary to search for and select a particular meaning out of the diverse meanings a word is capable of, according to lexicographers.. Judge Learned Hand cautioned not to make a fortress out of the dictionary but to pay more attention to the sympathetic and imaginative discovery of the purpose or object of the Statute as a guide to its meaning[3]”
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