Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

9 General Clauses Act, 1897

Introduction:

The General Clauses Act, 1897 was enacted on March 11, 1897.
The general definitions provided under the act is applicable to all Central Act and Regulations where there
is no definition in the Act
It does not confine to particular branch of law rather extends to various enactments and branches of law.

The General Clauses Act, 1897 applies to central legislature. It does not apply to any state
enactments, as every state has its own General Clauses Act that will apply to the legislature of state.

The General Clauses Act 1897 belongs to the class of Acts which may be called as interpretation Acts. An
Interpretation Act provides a standard set of definitions or extended definitions of words and expressions
commonly used in legislation (and is thus an Act of wide application). It also provides a set of rules which
regulate certain aspects of operation of other enactments. In addition there are other provisions which are
not merely definitions or rules of construction but substantive rules of law.

Object / Purpose / Importance of the Act:

 To shorten the language of Central Legislation.

 To provide uniformity by defining common legal terminology.
 To provide for various definitions which help to interpret various statues.
 To avoid unnecessary repetitions of same words in various enactments.
 To provide for general definitions for words which are not specifically defined under a given Act.
 This Act also help us to resolve any conflict between 2 or more Central legislations.

Key Definitions

The definitions under this Act will apply only where the context does not otherwise provide:

1. "Act", used with reference to an offence or a civil wrong, shall include a series of acts, and words which
refer to acts done extend also to illegal omissions;

2. "Affidavit" shall include affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or
declare instead of swearing;

Unique Academy 1 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

3. "Central Act" shall means an Act of Parliament and shall include

(a) An Act of the Dominion legislature or of the Indian Legislature passed before the commencement of
the Constitution, and
(b) An Act made before such commencement by the Governor General in Council or the Governor
General, acting in a legislative capacity;

4. Central Government" shall,-

(a) In relation to anything done before the commencement of the Constitution, mean the Governor General
or the Governor General in Council, as the case may be; and shall include,-
(i) In relation to functions entrusted under sub-section (1) of Section 124 of the Government of India Act,
1935, to the Government of a Province, the Provincial Government acting within the scope of the authority
given to it under that sub-section; and

(ii) in relation to the administration of a Chief Commissioner’s Province, the Chief Commissioner acting
within the scope of the authority given to him under sub-section (3) of section 94 of the said Act; and

(b) In relation to anything done or to be done after the commencement of the Constitution, mean the
President; and shall include,-

(i) in relation to Functions entrusted under clause (1) of article 258 of the Constitution, to the Government
of a State, the State Government acting within the scope of the authority given to it under that clause;

(ii) In relation to the administration of a Part C State before the Commencement of the Constitution
(Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, the Chief Commissioner or the Lieutenant-governor or the Government
of a neighbouring State or other authority acting within the scope of the authority acting within the
authority given to him or it under Article 239 or Article 243 of the Constitution, as the case may be; (and)

(iii) In relation to the administration of a Union territory, the administrator thereof acting within the scope
of the authority given to him under article 239 of the Constitution;

5. "Commencement" used with reference to an Act or regulation, shall mean the day on which the Act or
regulation comes into force;

6. "Constitution" shall mean the Constitution of India;

7. "District Judge" shall mean the Judge of a principal civil court of original jurisdiction, but shall not
include a High Court in the exercise of its ordinary or extraordinary original civil jurisdiction;

8. "document" shall include any matter written, expressed or described upon any substance by means of
letters, figures or marks, or by more than one of those means which is intended to be used, or which
may be used, for the purpose of recording that matter;

9. "Financial year" shall mean the year commencing on the first day of April;

10. “Good Faith” A thing shall be deemed to be done in "good faith" where it is in fact done honestly,
whether it is done negligently or not.

In simple words, if an act is done honestly it will be termed as in good faith. Negligence of the party will
not impact an act being a good faith or not. In short, an honest / sincere intention to deal fairly with others.

11. "Government" or "the Government" shall include both the Central Government and any State
Government;

Unique Academy 2 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

12. "Government securities" shall mean securities of the Central Government or of any State Government,
but in any Act or regulation made before the commencement of the Constitution shall not include
securities of the government of any Part B State;

In present case, Government securities mean and include any kind of bonds and financial instruments
issued by central state government.

13. "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;

14. "Imprisonment" shall mean imprisonment of either description as defined in the Indian Penal Code;

15. "local authority" shall mean a municipal committee, district board, body of port commissioners or
other authority legally entitled to, or entrusted by the government with the control or management of a
municipal or local fund;

16. "Magistrate" shall include every person exercising all or any of the powers of a Magistrate under the
Code of Criminal Procedure for the time being in force;

17. "Movable property" shall mean property of every description, except immovable property;

18. "Oath" shall include affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or
declare instead of swearing;

Note – The definition of oath and affidavit is same.

19. "Offence" shall mean any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force;

20. "Official Gazette" or "Gazette" shall mean the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of a State;

21. "Person" shall include any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or
not;

22. "Registered", used with reference to a document, shall mean registered in India under the law for the
time being in force for the registration of documents;

23. "Regulation" shall mean –

 a Regulation made by the President under article 240 or 243 of the constitution.
 a regulation made by the Central Government under the Government of India Act, 1870, or the
Government of India Act, 1915, or the Government of India Act, 1935;

24. "Rule" shall mean a rule made in exercise of a power conferred by any enactment, and shall -include a
Regulation made as a rule under any enactment;

25. "Schedule" shall mean a schedule to the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs;

26. "Section" shall mean a section of the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs;

27. "Sub-section" shall mean a sub-section of the section in which the word occurs;

Unique Academy 3 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

28. "State"-
(a) As respects any period before the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act,
1956, shall mean a Part A State, a Part B State or a Part C State; and

(b) As respects any period after such commencement, shall mean a State specified in Schedule I to the
Constitution and shall include a Union Territory;

29. "State Act" shall mean an Act passed by the Legislature of a State established or continued by the
Constitution;

30. "State Government"-

(a) As respects anything done before the commencement of the Constitution, shall mean, in a Part A State,
the Provincial Government of the corresponding Province, in a Part B State, the authority or person
authorized at the relevant date to exercise executive government in the corresponding Acceding State, and
in a Part C State, the Central Government;

(b) As respects anything done after the commencement of the Constitution and before the commencement
of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, shall mean, in a Part A State, the Governor in a Part
B State, the Rajpramukh, and in a Part C State, the Central Government;

(c) As respects anything done or to be done after the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh
Amendment) Act, 1956, shall mean, in a State, the Governor, and in a Union Territory, the Central
Government; and shall, in relation to functions entrusted under Article 258A of the Constitution to the
Government of India, include the Central Government acting within the scope of the authority given to it
under that article;

31. "Union Territory" shall mean any Union Territory specified in Schedule I to the Constitution and shall
include any other territory comprised within the territory of India but not specified in that Schedule;

32. "Will" shall include a codicil and every writing making a voluntary posthumous disposition of
property;

33. Expression referring to "writing" shall be construed as including references to printing, lithography,
photography and other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form; and

General Rule of Construction

A rule of construction is a principle that either governs the effect of the ascertained intention of a document
or agreement containing an ambiguous term or establishes what a court should do if the intention is neither
express nor implied.

A regular pattern of decisions concerning the application of a particular provision of a statute is a rule of
construction that governs how the text is to be applied in similar cases.

Contra proferentem and Ejusdem Generic are two examples of rules of construction. According to Contra
Proferentem Rule, if a clause in a contract appears to be ambiguous, it should be interpreted against the
interests of the person who insisted that the clause be included.

Likewise Ejusdem Generis Rule states that where a law lists specific classes of persons or things and then
refers to them in general, the general statements only apply to the same kind of persons or things
specifically listed.
Unique Academy 4 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157
Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

The aforesaid rule of construction is only a canon of interpretation; it is not a rule of substantive law.
Though it was noticed in some of the judgments of the Bombay High Court, the decisions therein mainly
turned upon the relevant statutory provisions.

Kinds of Rule of Construction and Interpretation

1. The Literal Rule of Interpretation:

The primary and important rule of interpretation is called the Literal Rule, laid down in the Sussex Peerage
Case.

This rule stated that: “The only rule for the construction of Acts of Parliament is, that they should be
construed according to the intent of the Parliament which passed the Act. If the words of the statute are in
themselves precise and unambiguous, then no more can be necessary than to expound those words in their
natural and ordinary sense.

2. Purposive Rule of Interpretation: The rule can be explained as –

• What was the common law before the making of the Act;

• What was the mischief and defect for which the common law did not provide; what remedy
Parliament has resolved and appointed to cure the disease of the commonwealth; and

• The true reason of the remedy, end then the office of all the judges is always to make such construction as
shall –

– Suppress the mischief and advance the remedy; and

– Suppress subtle inventions and evasions for the continuance of the mischief pro private commode (for
private benefit); and

– Add force and life to the cure and remedy according to the true intent of the makers of the Act pro
publico (for the public good).

3. Harmonious Construction

The principle of harmonious interpretation is similar to the idea of broad or purposive approach. The key to
this method of constitutional interpretation is that provisions of the Constitution should be harmoniously
interpreted.

When there are two provisions in a statute, which are in apparent conflict with each other, they should be
interpreted such that effect can be given to both and that construction which renders either of them
inoperative and useless should not be adopted except in the last resort.

Unique Academy 5 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

4. Rule of Beneficial Construction:

Beneficent construction involves giving the widest meaning possible to the statutes. When there are two or
more possible ways of interpreting a section or a word, the meaning which gives relief and protects the
benefits which are purported to be given by the legislation, should be chosen.

Beneficial Construction of statutes have enormously played an important role in the development and
beneficial interpretation of socio – economic legislations and have always encouraged the Indian
legislators to make more laws in favor of the backward class of people in India.

5. Strict Construction of Penal Statutes

The general rule for the construction of a penal statute is that it would be strictly interpreted, that is, if two
possible and reasonable constructions can be put upon a penal provision, the Court must lean towards that
construction which exempts the subject from penalty rather than the one which imposes a penalty. A penal
statute has to be construed narrowly in favor of the person proceeded against.

Retrospective Amendments

Effective date – Where legislation is not specifically mentioned to

come into force on a prescribed date, it shall be implemented on the
day that it receives the assent of the Governor General before the commencement of Indian constitution &
thereafter of the president.

A particular date of The Act will become effective on the given specified date.
enforcement of the Act
specified.
No particular date of Section 5 of the General Clauses Act will apply which lays
enforcement of the Act down that effective date of enforcement will be as follows:
is specified If Central Act is made before The Act will become effective
the commencement of on the date it received assent
Constitution of India of the Governor General.
If Central Act is made after The Act will become effective
the commencement of on the date it received assent
Constitution of India of the president.

Example : 1. The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017 received assent of the president on 03rd January,
2018 and in absence of specific date for a given section the date of assent i.e. 03rd January will be treated as
effective date for those sections.

2. SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 were notified on 15 th January, 2015 and clearly
laid down that the Regulations will be effective on expiry of 120 days of the notification i.e. on 15 th May,
2015. So effective date of enforcement will be 15th May, 2015.

Effect of Repealement: Where any Central legislation or any regulation enacted after the commencement
of this Act repeals any Act

Unique Academy 6 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

 The repeal will not revive or give impact to anything which was not in force at the time of repeal.
Means a repeal of provision cannot make an ineffective provision, effective.

 The repeal will not affect the prior management of the repealed Act. Means any act done in the past in
that particular Act will not be affected by repeal.

 The repeal will not impact any right, privilege, obligation or liability that has come into picture due to
the past act, which stands repealed now.

 The repeal will not impact any investigation that is already initiated and may be initiated in the past act
which now stands repealed.
Note – If an Act is repealed, it must be considered as it had never existed. An act is repealed with an
intention to obliterate or eliminate its existence from the books. But repeal will not have ay effect on
purposes given under section 6 of the Act.

Revival of Repealed Enactment

In any Central legislation or regulation framed subsequent to the enforcement of the legislation, it shall be
essential to revive any legislation either entirely or partly repealed expressly to provide the purpose.

In other words, if one Act is repealed by second, which is subsequently repealed by third Act; the first act
will not automatically revive on repealing of second act unless the third act does not expressly provide so.
Example – Companies Act, 1913 was repealed by Companies Act, 1956 and there after Companies Act,
2013 repealed Companies Act, 1956. The repealment of Companies Act, 1956 by Companies Act, 2013
will not revive Companies Act, 1913 on its own.

Construction of References of Repealed Enactments

If the present legislation or any Central enactment or regulation made subsequent to the enactment, repeals
or restructure with or without amendments of the prior legislation, then the indication in any other
legislation or any other mechanism to the provision that has been repealed shall be interpreted as indication
to the provision that has been re-enacted.

If one Act refers to a previous Act for a definition or provision and later on the previous Act is repealed or
re – enacted then automatically re-enacted provision shall apply.

Example – Book Profit in Section 115JB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is calculated as per Companies Act,
1956. But due to replacement of Companies Act, 1956 by Companies Act, 2013, automatically book
profits u/s 115JB is calculated as per Companies act 2013.

Computation of Time

If any Central legislation or regulation made after the implementation of any legislation or procedure is
ordered or permitted to be performed or taken in any Court or office on a particular day or within specified
time, then if the Court or office is not opened on that day or last day of the specified period, the legislation
or proceedings shall be deemed to be performed or taken in due time if it is performed or taken on the
subsequent day afterward the Court reopens.

Unique Academy 7 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

POWERS AND FUNCTIONARIES

Section 14 •Powers conferred to be exercisable from time to time.

Section 15 •Power to appoint to include power to appoint ex officio.

Section 16 •Power to appoint to include power to suspend or dismiss

Section 17 •Substitution of functionaries

Section 18 •Successors

Section 19 •Officials chiefs and sub-ordinates

Powers conferred to be exercisable from time to time: Where, by any Central Act or Regulation made
after the commencement of this Act, any power is conferred, then unless a different intention appears that
power may be exercised from time to time as occasion requires.

In simple words, if any power is given by an Act, then those powers can be used from time to time
whenever the need arises.

Power to appoint to include power to appoint ex officio: Where, by any Central Act or Regulation, a
power to appoint any person to fill any office or execute any function is conferred, then, unless it is
otherwise expressly provided, any such appointment, if it is made after the commencement of this Act,
may be made either by name or by virtue of office.

Ex-officio is a Latin term which means by virtue of ones position. Means you can appoint a person by
name or by position.

Example – The Chairman of Rajya Sabha is always the Vice President of India. So, whoever becomes the
Vice President of India is appointed as Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Power to appoint to include power to suspend or dismiss: Where, by any Central Act or Regulation, a
power to make any appointment is conferred, then, unless a different intention appears, the authority
having for the time being power to make the appointment shall also have power to suspend or dismiss any
person appointed whether by itself or any other authority in exercise of that power.

If any authority has power to appoint someone at a position, that authority will also have power to suspend
or dismiss that person from the position.

Substitution of functionaries: In any Central Act or Regulation, made after the commencement of this
Act, it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of indicating the application of a law to every person or number
of persons for the time being executing the function of an office, to mention the official title of the officer
at present executing the functions, or that of the officer by whom the functions are commonly executed.

Unique Academy 8 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws General Clauses Act, 1897

If a law applies to a particular office or position, then any person who is currently executing the function of
that office will also be governed by that law.

Successors: In any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, it shall be
sufficient, for the purpose of indicating the relation of a law to the successors of any functionaries or of
corporations having perpetual succession, to express its relation to the functionaries or corporations.

Officials chiefs and sub-ordinates

In any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, it shall be sufficient, for the
purpose of expressing that a law relative to the chief or superior of an office shall apply to the deputies or
subordinates lawfully performing the duties of that office in the place of their superior, to prescribe the
duty of the superior.

POWER AS TO ORDERS, RULES ETC., MADE UNDER ENACTMENTS

Section 21 of the General Clause Act deals with power to issue, to include power to add to, amend, vary or
rescind notifications, orders, rules or bye-laws. It says where, by any Central Act or Regulation, a power to
issue notifications, orders, rules or bye-laws is conferred, then that power includes a power, exercisable in
the like manner and subject to the like sanction and conditions (if any), to add to, amend, vary or rescind
any notifications, orders, rules or bye-laws so issued.

Unique Academy 9 CS Shubham Modi - 8087676157