Statement of Object and Reasons as an external aid for interpretation
The Statement of Objects and Reasons, seeks only to explain what reasons induced the mover
to introduce the bill in the House and what objects he sought to achieve. But those objects
and reasons may or may not correspond to the objective which the majority of members had
in view when they passed it into law. The Bill may have undergone radical changes during its
passage through the House or Houses, and there is no guarantee that the reasons which led to
its introduction and the objects thereby sought to be achieved have remained the same
throughout till the Bill emerges from the House as an Act of the Legislature, for they do not
form part of the Bill and are not voted upon by the members. The Statements of Objects and
Reasons appended to the Bill should be ruled out as an aid to the construction of a statute.
If the wordings are ambiguous, the historical setting may be considered in order to arrive at
the proper construction. Historical setting covers parliamentary history, historical facts,
statement of objects and reasons, report of expert committees. Parliamentary history means
the process by which an act is enacted. This includes conception of an idea, drafting of the
bill, the debates made, the amendments proposed etc. Speech made in mover of the bill,
amendments considered during the progress of the bill are considered in parliamentary
history where as the papers placed before the cabinet which took the decision for the
introduction of the bill are not relevant since these papers are not placed before the
parliament. The historical facts of the statute that is the external circumstances in which it
was enacted in should also be taken into note so that it can be understood that the statute in
question was intended to alter the law or leave it where it stood. Statement of objective and
reasons as to why the statute is being brought to enactment can also be a very helpful fact in
the research for historical facts, but the same if done after extensive amendments in statute it
may be unsafe to attach these with the statute in the end. It is better to use the report of a
committee before presenting it in front of the legislature as they guide us with a legislative
intent and place their recommendations which come in handy while enactment of the bill.
Statement of Objects and Reasons, accompanying a legislative Bill is concerned, it is
permissible to refer to it for understanding the background, the antecedent state of affairs, the
surrounding circumstances in relation to the statute and the evil which the statute sought to
remedy. But, it cannot be used to ascertain the true meaning and effect of the substantive
provision of the statute. [Devadoss (dead) by L. Rs, v. Veera MakaliAmman KoilAthalur,
AIR 1998 SC].
in the State of West Bengal v. Subodh Gopal Bose [1954 SCR 587] the statement of objects
and reasons was quoted possibly with a view to ascertaining the conditions prevailing at the
time of passing of the Act. Such a statement may explain the object of the legislature in
enacting the Act.
The Supreme Court in K.P. Varghese v. Income Tax Officer Ernakulam, [AIR 1981 SC
1922] has stated that interpretation of statute being an exercise in the ascertainment of
meaning, everything which is logically relevant should be admissible. Following are some
known external aids, which are admissible for the interpretation of statutory provisions are
Parliamentary material like debates in Constituent Assembly, speeches of the movers of the
Bill, Reports of Committees or Commission, Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill,
etc.
The Supreme Court (Lahoti J) in Bhaji v. SDO Thandlan (2003)1 SCC 692 observed:
"Reference to the Statement of Objects and Reasons is permissible for understanding the
background, the antecedent state of affairs, the surrounding circumstances in relation to the
statute and the evil which the statute sought to remedy. The weight of judicial authority leans
in favour of the view that the Statement of Objects and Reasons cannot be utilized for the
purpose of restricting and controlling the plain meaning of the language employed by the
legislature in drafting a statute and excluding from its operation such transactions which is
plainly covers."
