Important Legal Definitions

The primary and cardinal rule of statutory construction dictating that the words of an enactment must be given their plain, ordinary, natural, and grammatical meaning, provided they are clear and unambiguous.

In Babu Manmohan Das Shah v. Bishun Das, the Supreme Court held that where the language of a statute is clear and admits of only one meaning, the court has no choice but to give effect to it, irrespective of the consequences or hardship caused.