Pradeep Kumar Sonthalia Vs Dheeraj Prasad Sahu
Forum-Supreme Court of India
Date-18/12/2020
Sub-Meaning of the word -Date? Whether it includes the whole day or a particular time? When can the clock be said to be started running?

The CJI bench of the Apex court in the above case was interalia called upon to decide the interpretation of the word “date” as appearing in the Representation of People Act, 1951. The petitioner argued that wherever a statute uses the word “date” with reference to an event, courts have always interpreted the same to have happened at the intersection of the previous day and the present day, namely 00.01 a.m. This is firstly because it is at that time that the day begins and secondly because law abhors fractions”

The court dealt with several decisions in this regard and noted that there is a vast difference between (i) the interpretation to be given to the expression “date”, in criminal law and that in dealing with period of limitation for filing an appeal/revision.
The court also noted that the word “date” can be used to denote occasion, time, year etc. It is also used for denoting the time up to the present when it is used in the phrase “the two dates”. Significantly, the word “date” can also be used to denote a point of time etc. (See Roget’s International Thesaurus third edition Note 114.4). The court relied on the decision of the G S Chatha Rice Mills (2020) SCConline SC 770 also where the court noted that , “Legislative silences create spaces for creativity” and that “between interstices of legislative spaces and silences, the law is shaped by the robust application of common sense”.
Finally the court noted the words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Henry R Towne vs. Mark Eisner while dealing with the construction of a word in the Constitution as well as a statute, observed:-
“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living though and may vary greatly in colour and content according to the circumstances and tie in which it is used”.

The above matter though related to an election petition, but would be of great help in interpreting the penal and other provisions regarding interpretation of the word “date” ,”Day” and “time”

Ramesh Patodia
21-12-2020