Mischief Rule of Interpretation

Often referred to as Haydon’s Rule, the Mischief Rule of Interpretation is one of the most important
rules of interpretation. in relation to rules of interpretation, mischief means to prevent the misuse of
provisions of a statute. It is widely known as the mischief rule primarily because it focuses on curing the
mischief.

As per the Mischief Rule of Interpretation, a statute must be construed in such a way as to suppress the
Mischief. Mischief should not have a place in the statute. If an attempt is made to add Mischief in any
statute, then it must be prevented by the Mischief Rule of interpretation.

Haydon’s Case

As mentioned before, Mischief rule of interpretation can be traced back to Haydon’s Case[viii]. It is
considered to be a landmark judgment for the Mischief Rule of Interpretation because the Mischief Rule
seemed to have evolved from this case. In the aforementioned case, it was held that there are four
criterion which have to be met for the true interpretation of all the statutes in general. They are as
follows: –

1. What was the common law before the making of the Act/statute?
2. What was the mischief for which the present statute was enacted?
3. What remedy did the Parliament sought or had resolved and appointed to cure the disease of
the commonwealth?
4. The true reason of the remedy.

In the matter of The Commissioner of Income Tax – Madhya Pradesh and Bhopal v. Sodra Devi, Justice
Bhagwati stated that “It is clear that unless there is any such ambiguity it would not be open to the court
to depart from the normal rule of construction which is that the intention of the Legislature should be
primarily gathered from the words which are used.”

Therefore, it is evident that the rule established in Heydon’s case can be applied only when the words in
question are ambiguous and are reasonably capable of having two or more meanings.

What does Purposive approach mean?

The purposive approach to interpreting legislation looks beyond the words of the legislation at the
purpose behind it, and the legislation is seen as a skeleton of the law for the judges to flesh out in time.
The purposive approach has its roots in legal systems which are based on civil codes and is sometimes
referred to as the teleological approach. It is used in EU law.

The purposive approach sometimes referred to as purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or

the "modern principle in construction" is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation
under which common law courts interpret an enactment (that is, a statute, a part of a statute, or a
clause of a constitution) in light of the purpose for which it was enacted.