AAKRITI JAIPURIAR & DEBAPRIYA BISWAS

STUDENTS OF AMITY LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA

 Abstract

Law, as known by many, was introduced to bring order into society. However, with the ever-changing times resulting due to the rapid developments of humanity, both the concept and purpose of law have evolved into much more than just maintaining public order in the State. Thus, to maintain the consistency of law to prevent any irregularities and injustice, the Constitution was introduced as the supreme law of the land.

With all the other laws being derived from the Constitution of the State, the application of the deriving legislations and statutes became complicated as many provisions needed to be interpreted in a way that they are not in contravention of the Constitution. To achieve this, judicial philosophy in relation to the method of interpretations emerged; with the literal interpretation and purposive interpretation being the most popular among the rest.

In this paper, we explore the concepts and emergence of the aforesaid methods of interpretation while also diving into the history behind the philosophy of the methods and how they came to be. The elements of each method are also briefly touched upon. Their development through the past few decades will also be discussed through constitutional landmark judgements of both Indian and international origin.

The paper concludes with a detailed comparison between the two while highlighting the need for both methods of interpretation. After all, the purpose of all the laws is to allow people to find justice, live peacefully, and have room for growth while maintaining a sense of status quo.

Keywords: Constitution, judicial philosophy, Literal interpretation and purposive Interpretation.