The judgment established the principle that the common parlance definition of a term should be accepted in the absence of a specific statutory definition, and highlighted the relevance of indigenous principles of interpretation in legal reasoning.

MARKANDEY KATJU, J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment of the allahabad High Court dated 22. 2. 2000 in Writ Petition No. 23662 of 1999.

( 2 ) HEARD learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

( 3 ) THE respondent in this appeal, which is a Union of cane growers and looks after the interest of sugarcane farmers in Meerut District, was the petitioner in the writ petition before the Allahabad High Court. It was alleged in the writ petition that cane growers of the area require implements and other equipments for agriculture. For this purpose it purchases Animal driven Vehicles (hereinafter called 'adv carts') in order to transport the sugarcane from the agriculture fields to the sugar factories or other places where it is required to be sent. The State Government from time to time has provided a subsidy on the purchase of ADV carts and other agricultural implements.

( 4 ) IT appears that the State Government issued an order dated 20. 11. 1996 stating that all kinds of agricultural implements driven by hand operation or animal power should be purchased from the U. P. State Agro Industrial limited. The short question in the writ petition before the High Court was whether the ADV carts are agricultural implements. If, they are then in order to get subsidy, purchases had to be made only from the Corporation and not from other parties.

( 5 ) THE Cane Commissioner, U. P. issued a letter dated 5. 3. 1999, copy of which is Annexure P-2 to this appeal, stating that in pursuance of the aforesaid Government order dated 20. 11. 1996 of the U. P. Government, adv carts can only be purchased from the U. P. State Agro Industrial limited. This order dated 5. 3. 1999 of the Cane Commissioner was challenged in the writ petition on the ground that it was in conflict with the government order dated 20. 11. 1996.

( 6 ) THE short question in this appeal is whether ADV carts are also agricultural implements.

( 7 ) THE Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Tenth Edn. Revised) defines 'implement' as 'a tool, utensil or other piece of equipment used for a particular purpose'. The same dictionary defines 'tool' as 'a device or implement, typically hand-held, used to carry out a particular function'.

( 8 ) IN Webster Comprehensive Dictionary (International Edn.) the word 'implement' has been defined as 'a thing used in work, especially in manual work; a utensil; tool'. In the same dictionary the word 'tool' has been defined as a 'simple mechanism or implement, as a hammer, saw, spade, or chisel, used chiefly in the direct manual working, moving, shaping, or transforming of material'.

( 9 ) IN Advanced Law Lexicon by P. Ramanatha Aiyar (3rd edn 2005) the word 'tool' has been defined as 'things designed to help the hand in work, especially in industrial operations'.

( 10 ) ONE word can have several meanings, and several words can have the same meaning (synonyms ). Thus, for example, the word 'ball' can mean the spherical object used in a game, or it can also mean a dance; it can also mean having a nice time, etc. Similarly, several words can have the same meaning e. g. the Sanskrit words 'pankaj', 'jalaj', 'kamal', 'padma', 'saroj', 'sarsij', etc. which all mean 'lotus'.

( 11 ) NO doubt the word 'implement' can have several dictionary meanings. However, in interpretation it is well settled that ordinarily the meaning of the word or expression in common parlance or in common use should be accepted, unless the statute or order in which it is used has defined it with a specific meaning. There is no definition of the word 'implements' in the g. O. of the State Government dated 20. 11. 1996.

( 12 ) IN the Mimansa Rules of Interpretation, which is our indigenous system of interpretation, one of the principles is :

( 13 ) THE above principle means 'the popular meaning overpowers the etymological meaning'.

( 14 ) FOR example, the word 'pankaja' literally means whatever grows in mud. The word 'panka' means 'mud', and t