CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERPRETATION OF

BENEFICIAL LEGISLATION
BY CHANDRASMITA PRIYADARSHINI

7TH SEMESTER
KIIT SCHOOL OF LAW, BHUBANESHWAR

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERPRETATION OF
BENEFICIAL LEGISLATION:

ABSTRACT:-
Legislations nowadays are made in keeping in mind about a beneficial object in it for
each and every individual of a country. Beneficial legislation certainly have a larger
public interest and more welfare ambitions. Beneficial legislations are the statutes that
claims to confer benefit, remedy, liberal approach towards the citizens of the country.
Here Court’s attempt is to construe these statutes in these statutes in such a manner
that benefit can be drawn from them by liberal interpretation. “Also the court ought to
be more concerned with the colour the content and the context of the statute rather
than with its literal meaning.” As justice Holmes contended “A word is not a crystal,
transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in
colour and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used."

WORDS:- BENEFICIAL, LEGISLATION, LIBERAL, BENEFIT,

INTERPRETATION

I. INTRODUCTION

Beneficial legislation aim is to give widest and liberal meaning possible to the
legislations. When there are more than one interpretation the court is to opt For the
interpretation that gives remedy, benefit, relief towards the oppressed.1 Only statutes
like this are enacted in such a manner to promote welfare among the individuals, and
to face social urgency.

In interpreting a remedial or beneficial statue the courts are to provide with widest
possible interpretation that the meaning of statute permits. The determining factor
would be to identify the mischief to be remedied and which should be in accordance
with the language of the statute. But there must not be any unnatural interpretation of

1
Avatar singh and harpreet kaur, Introduction to Interpretation of statues, 4th edition, 2019, pg 6

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the language contained in the statute.“If a statute is of this nature that does not make
the offender liable to any penalty in favour of the State, the legislation will be
classified as remedial. Remedial statutes are also known as welfare, beneficient or
social justice oriented legislations.2”These statutes confer benefit on that individual in
whose favour the legislation is enacted. But Certain modern legislation can contain
penal provisions.3 In that case the Legislation prescribes duty and penalty, when a
individual fails from doing it then prescribes a sanction for its performance.

II. NATURE, SCOPE AND EFFECT OF BENEFICIAL

CONSTRUCTION:-

The nature of a beneficial legislation is enacted with a view to confer the benefit
which extends by way of compensation or remedy or benefit to the victims.”4 The
beneficial construction is remedial in nature as it applies to suppress the mischief and
advances the remedy.” “Laws which are enacted with the object of promoting general
welfare and facing urgent social demands receive beneficial legislations.” Whiling
Interpretation of a beneficial legislation the courts approach is to adopt a construction
which advances the beneficient purpose underlying in the enactment.”

As beneficial construction enlarges the scope of interpretation and allows the court to
choose for the wider connotation such that beneficiaries come under its large scope to
meet the intention of legislature. Though the Court must follow the language used in
the statutes without unnecessary liberal interpretation that is beyond the object of the
statute.

“The means of beneficial legislation is that if a section in a remedial or beneficial

statute is reasonably capable of two constructions that construction should be
preferred which furthers the policy of the Act and is more beneficial to those in whose
interest the Act may have been passed.5” Justice K Iyer advised:-“Recall the face of
the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the

2
GP singh, Principles on Statutory Interpretation, 2019, 572
3
“Ratan v State of Punjab, AIR 1965 SC 444”, pp 446, 447 : 1964 (7) SCR 676. )
4
Maxwell, On the interpretation of statutes, 2016, pg 138
5
GP Singh, Principles of statutory interpretation,2019, pg 566

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step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him”. Usually the labour and
welfare legislation are to be always beneficially and liberally construed with due
regard to directive Principles of state policy or any other conventions. “The principle
that a beneficial legislation needs to be construed liberally in favour of the class for
whose benefit it is intended, does not extend to reading in the provisions of the Act
what the legislature has not provided whether expressly or by necessary implication,
or substituting remedy or benefits for that provided by the legislature.”

III. NECESSITY OF BENEFICIAL INTERPRETATION

Beneficial legislations are enacted to benefit a class of persons who are considered to
be oppressed, e.g.labourers, employees, minor children, etc. It gives effect to both the
provisions by removing the repugnancy or inconsistency, then which would prevail
should be assessed by exhausting other principles of interpretation including the
principle based on legislative intention, object and purpose of the provision/the Act.
In the case of beneficial legislation, the interpretation which favours or promotes the
benefit shall be adopted. The application of plain and literal interpretation would be
available only when the language employed is clean and unambiguous and found to
be not capable of giving any inconsistency or repugnancy.6 Beneficial legislations are
enacted with the object to promote benefit, remedy and general welfare. Examples of
such legislations are The Factories Act, The Hindu Marriage Act, Industrial Disputes
Act, etc. Relatively, in a case Lord Upjohn observed: The Factories Act, 1961, should
be regarded as a beneficial rather than a penal statute. Its object is to secure proper
working conditions for persons employed to do manual labour in certain operations,
and the penalties for failure to provide such conditions are merely incidental to that
object. So here the act shouldn’t be construed strictly. “As its various provisions come
into force in different parts of the country they would replace the corresponding laws
on the subject such as the Children Act, 1960 and other State enactments on the
subject."Thus, the whole object of the Act is to provide for the care, protection,
treatment, development and rehabilitation of neglected delinquent juveniles. It is
a beneficial legislation aimed at to make available the benefit of the Act to the
neglected or delinquent juveniles. It is settled law that the interpretation of the Statute

6
GP singh, Principles of statutory Interpretation, 2019, 601

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of beneficial legislation must be to advance the cause of legislation to the benefit for
whom it is made and not to frustrate the intendment of the legislation.””

IV. BENEFICIAL INTERPRETATION AND ITS APPLICATION

IN VARIOUS STATUTES:-

The principle of liberal construction of beneficial legislation has to be applied

"without rewriting or doing violence to the enactments" for resolving an ambiguity
and the literal construction when the language is clear and explicit cannot be unseen.7
“A remedial or beneficial statute receives a liberal construction, whereas a penal
statute is strictly construed.8 In case of beneficial statutes the doubt is resolved in
favour of the class of persons for whose benefit the statute is enacted; whereas in case
of penal statutes the doubt is resolved in favour of the alleged offender.9”
The Supreme Court exhibited a similar liberal approach in holding that non-payment
of employer's contribution within fifteen days under para 38 of the Employers'
Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 which was punishable under section 14(2-A) of the
Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 was a
continuing offence. In holding so Chandrachud CJ said: “Considering the object and
purpose of this provision, which is to ensure the welfare of workers, we find it
impossible to hold that the offence is not of a continuing nature.”
Relatively in the protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 enacted for punishing the
enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability which was abolished by
the Constitution in Article 17 and to implement its mandate will be construed in the
light of the constitutional goal to annihilate untouchability and the disabilities arising
out of it. Also in case of Consumer Protection act 1986 which is a social welfare
oriented legislation must be interpreted by the courts liberally, beneficially in the
favour of the consumers in order to give justice to the object of the legislation but not
going far with with the phraseology that is literal interpretation.
A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in interpreting “the provisions of the
Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970,” held that no provision in the

7
“Mugnilal v Suganchand, AIR 1965 SC 101”, p 105 : 1964 (5) SCR 239;
8
“Steel Authority of India Ltd v National Union Water Front Workers, AIR 2001”
9
Supra 3

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Act can provide for automatic absorpotion of contract labour10 which states under
Section 10 to prohibit Contract labour. “And while dealing with a question arised
relating to the grant of maternity11 leave benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act,
1961, the court referred to Article 42 of the Directive Principles and Article 11 of the
Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in
holding that the Act applies also to the muster roll female workers working in their
respective feilds.””12Also in a case where compensation payable in respect of an
accident under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 is determined in accordance
with the date of the accident on which the law is enforced and any enhancement of
compensation by a new law before the date of adjudication will not affect the amount
of compensation.13 Similarly the provision for no fault liability added in the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1939 by section 92A has no application to accidents taking place before
incorporation of the section.14”

V. CONCLUSION:-

The Beneficial legislations enforces remedy and benefit or compensation for the
persons aggrieved or oppressed. Beneficial statutes as the name suggests are those
which provide rights, privileges, remedy, to public as a whole. Nowadays, these
statutes are both referred to be remedial in nature and are construed in such a manner
to be construed liberally and in a beneficial manner in order to give effect to such
legislations. The liberal construction of these beneficial statutes“must flow from the
language used and the rule does not permit placing of an unnatural interpretation on
the words contained in the enactment; nor does it permit the raising of any
presumption that protection of widest amplitude must be deemed to have been
conferred upon those for whose benefit the legislation may have been enacted.”But
their should be no role of “Sympathy” in construing these statutes. The courts
decision must be beneficial but not with sympathy or sentiment as it wont amount to

10
State of Karnataka v Vishwabharathi House Building Co-op Society, (2003) 2 SCC 412,
11
Air India Statutory Corp v United Labour Union, AIR 1997 SC 645
12
Municipal Corp of Delhi v Female Workers (Muster Roll), AIR 2000 SC 1274
13
; Pepsu Road Transport Corp Patialia v Kulwant Kaur, (2009) 4 SCC 32 :
14
Raja Satyendra Narain Singh v State of Bihar, (1987) 3 SCC 319,

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be a ground for passing a suitable decision. Hence, the courts must adopt a reasonable
and balanced approach while interpreting beneficial legislations.

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