AI Overview...
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Contemporanea Expositio - Definition and Application
The maxim Contemporanea Expositio est optima et fortissima in lege translates to Contemporaneous exposition is the best and strongest in law. It is used as a guiding principle for interpreting statutes or legal documents by considering the interpretation given by contemporary authorities or expositions at the time of enactment. Its primary purpose is to resolve ambiguities by referencing the understanding and usage during the period when the law was enacted or interpreted ULTRATECH CEMENT LTD. VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN - Supreme Court, Norasia Lines (Malta) Ltd. , Represented by Trans Asian Shipping Service (Pvt) Ltd. VS The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle I, Division II - Kerala, Kotha Sambasiva Rao VS State of Andhra Pradesh rep. by its Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department, Amarav - Andhra Pradesh. -
Main Points and Insights
- The doctrine is particularly valuable when the language of a statute is ambiguous, aiding courts in ascertaining legislative intent by examining contemporaneous expositions or authoritative interpretations ULTRATECH CEMENT LTD. VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN - Supreme Court, Kotha Sambasiva Rao VS State of Andhra Pradesh rep. by its Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department, Amarav - Andhra Pradesh, Norasia Lines (Malta) Ltd. , Represented by Trans Asian Shipping Service (Pvt) Ltd. VS The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle I, Division II - Kerala.
- It is considered the best and strongest guide in law, especially in cases involving ambiguous or complex legal language, but it does not override clear and unambiguous statutory provisions Kotha Sambasiva Rao VS State of Andhra Pradesh rep. by its Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department, Amarav - Andhra Pradesh, Sushamma VS Regional Transport Authority - Kerala.
- The maxim is often invoked in modern legal contexts to interpret contemporary statutes, though its application to very old statutes or in the absence of ambiguity may be limited or contested P. C. Sukhani VS State of Sikkim - Sikkim, Sushamma VS Regional Transport Authority - Kerala.
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Courts may refer to acts, usages, or interpretations contemporaneous with the law’s enactment to clarify legislative intent, but this approach is secondary to the plain language of the statute Senior Electric Inspector VS Laxminaray Chopra - Supreme Court, Norasia Lines (Malta) Ltd. , Represented by Trans Asian Shipping Service (Pvt) Ltd. VS The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle I, Division II - Kerala.
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Analysis and Conclusion
The rule of Contemporanea Expositio emphasizes the importance of understanding the law as it was understood at the time of its enactment, making it a powerful interpretative tool in resolving ambiguities. However, its application is not absolute; clear legislative language may render the maxim unnecessary. Courts tend to prioritize the plain text but resort to contemporaneous expositions when ambiguity arises, thereby reinforcing the maxim’s role as the best and strongest interpretative aid in law ULTRATECH CEMENT LTD. VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN - Supreme Court, Kotha Sambasiva Rao VS State of Andhra Pradesh rep. by its Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department, Amarav - Andhra Pradesh, Sushamma VS Regional Transport Authority - Kerala. Its relevance remains significant in both historical and modern statutory interpretation, provided the context warrants its use.
References:
- ULTRATECH CEMENT LTD. VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN - Supreme Court, Norasia Lines (Malta) Ltd. , Represented by Trans Asian Shipping Service (Pvt) Ltd. VS The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle I, Division II - Kerala, Kotha Sambasiva Rao VS State of Andhra Pradesh rep. by its Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department, Amarav - Andhra Pradesh, Sushamma VS Regional Transport Authority - Kerala, P. C. Sukhani VS State of Sikkim - Sikkim, Senior Electric Inspector VS Laxminaray Chopra - Supreme Court, K. Sadasivan, S/o. Kumara Pillai VS Surendradas, S/o. Bhanu Panicker - Kerala, Bhuwalka Steel Indus. Ltd. VS Bombay Iron & Steel Labour Ltd. - Supreme Court
Search Results for "Contemporanea Expositio Est Optima Expositio Rule"
2019 0 Supreme(Bom) 1939 • India - Bombay
PRAKASH D.NAIK
2020 0 Supreme(SC) 450 • India - Supreme Court
A. M. KHANWILKAR, DINESH MAHESHWARI
of Contemporanea Expositio is applied as a guide to interpretation of a statute or even document by referring to exposition that ... Findings of Court: Doctrine of Contemporanea Expositio neither applies to this ... (Paras 22, 23, 24.1, 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 29 and 34) (B) Doctrine – Contemporanea Expositio – In essence, doctrine ... consuetudo; Contemporanea exposition est Optima et fortissimo in le....
1961 0 Supreme(SC) 281 • India - Supreme Court
P.B.GAJENDRAGADKAR, K.SUBBA RAO, M.HIDAYATULLAH
expositio est optima et fortissima in lege in construing the provisions of a modern statute. ... used for the purpose of wireless telegraph and that the Appellate Bench of the High Court went wrong in invoking the old maxim contemporanea ... This reason is based upon the maxim contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege (contemporaneous exposition is the best and strongest in law). ... expositio #HL_ST....
2005 0 Supreme(Ker) 305 • India - Kerala
J.B.KOSHY, K.T.SANKARAN
Next contention is one based on the theory of ‘contemporanea expositio’. It refers to interpreting a statute or any other document by referring to the exposition it has received from contemporary authority. ‘Optima est legum interpres consuetude. Contemporanea expositio est fortissima in lege.’ ... Then, it is argued that the theory of ‘contemporanea expositio’ is applicable in this case and hence the interpretatio....
2017 0 Supreme(AP) 198 • India - Andhra Pradesh
RAMESH RANGANATHAN, T.RAJANI
Contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege is a maxim meaning Contemporaneous exposition is the best and strongest in the law. (Black L. Dict.; Broom.). Where the words of an instrument are ambiguous, the Court may call in aid acts done under it as a clue to the intention. (Watcham v. ... The rule of construction, by reference to contemporanea expositio, must give way where the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous. (K.P. Var....
2014 0 Supreme(Ker) 198 • India - Kerala
... The scheme has the force of law and the amendment brought in, to overcome the defect pointed out by the High Court, has to be examined in the background of the well-known principle of contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege (in law what is most powerful is a contemporaneous ... exposition). ... It is trite that the Form does not control the rule and as long as the rule provides for exclusion, the words employed in the scheme has to decide the true....
2020 0 Supreme(Ker) 692 • India - Kerala
before judgment-Order to issue notice is equal to issuance of a direction under Rule 5(1) of Order XXXVIII- Order XXXVIII Rule 6 ... Code of Civil Procedure, 1908- Order XXXVIII Rules 5 and 6, Section 148A(1), Order XXVI Rule 9 - Attachment ... Sadanandan (2003 (3) KLT 680) is that Order XXXVIII Rule 6(2) of the Code cannot apply to a case where ... Maxim “Contemporanea Expositio Est Optima Et Fortissima in Lege” is squarely applicable in the interp....
1958 0 Supreme(MP) 130 • India - Madhya Pradesh
G.P.BHUTT, M.HIDAYATULLAH
embodied in the maxim contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege, and accept the receipt as valid. ... The proper rule is contained in Note 219 of the same book, which has been quoted by the Tribunal in its order. That rule is also not applicable, as the provision under consideration is not ambiguous. ... Sections 90 (3) and 118 give power and lay down a rule of decision, but their effect is to be found in Section 98 and hence the consequential sections ....
1981 0 Supreme(Sikk) 8 • India - Sikkim
MAN MOHAN SINGH GUJRAL, A.M.BHATTACHARJEE
Laird. (1883) 8 AC 658 (HL), Lord Watson stated the rule in the following words :- ... "In my opinion such usage as has been termed contemporanea expositio is of no value in construing a British statute of the year 1858. ... In England also, the doctrine of contemporanea expositio has not been consistently applied only to the construction of ambiguous language in very old statutes though in the leading modern case in Campbell college, Belfast (Governors) v. ... In this situation, the principle of #HL_ST....
2009 8 Supreme 259 • India - Supreme Court
V.S.SIRPURKAR, TARUN CHATTERJEE
(Paras 36 to 38) ... Maxim of Contemporanea Expositio Est Optima Et ... Fortissima In Lege, shortly stated, Contemporanea Expositio-Applicability of-Plea of appellants that Full Bench ought to have considered ... (Paras 24 to 35) ... Rule of stare decisis – Plea of appellants that ... The other argument raised was on the basis of maxim of Contemporanea Expositio Est Optima Et Fortissima In Lege,....
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