The General Clauses Act 1897: What It Is, and Its Definitions

Section 2

Section 2 is printed as repealed, by the Repealing and Amending Act 1903. It is named here so that a reader working through the Act does not think a section has been skipped.

Section 3: the definitions

The opening words, which do most of the work

Section 3 begins: "In this Act, and in all Central Acts and Regulations made after the commencement of this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context," and then lists the definitions.

Three things sit in that sentence and each is examinable.

The reach. The definitions apply to the General Clauses Act itself and to every Central Act and Regulation made after it commenced. That is what makes it a general statute rather than an ordinary one.

The date. Made after the commencement. Acts made before 1897 are reached by section 4, not by section 3.

The escape. "Unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context". A definition yields where the particular Act uses the word in another sense, which is why the first place to look is always the Act's own definitions clause, as [Internal Aids to the Interpretation of a Statute] explains.

The definitions worth knowing, grouped

Section 3 contains more than sixty clauses. Nobody is asked to reproduce them all. What is asked is the ones that matter, and grouping them makes them memorable.

The units the law works on. Clause (2), "act", used with reference to an offence or a civil wrong, includes a series of acts, and words which refer to acts done extend also to illegal omissions. Clause (38), "offence", any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force. Clause (42), "person", includes any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. Clause (3), "affidavit", includes affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing. These four are worked in [Fact, Person, Offence and State] and [Plaint, Complaint, Suit and Affidavit].

The vocabulary of legislation. Clause (7), "Central Act", an Act of Parliament, including an Act of the Dominion Legislature or of the Indian Legislature passed before the commencement of the Constitution and an Act made before that commencement by the Governor General in Council or the Governor General acting in a legislative capacity. Clause (13), "commencement", used with reference to an Act or Regulation, the day on which it comes into force. Clause (19), "enactment", includes a Regulation and any Regulation of the Bengal, Madras or Bombay Code, and also any provision contained in any Act or in any such Regulation. Clause (29), "Indian law", any Act, Ordinance, Regulation, rule, order, bye-law or other instrument which before the commencement of the Constitution had the force of law in a Province, or since then in the specified States, but not a United Kingdom Act or an Order in Council. Clause (50), "Regulation", a Regulation made by the President under article 240 of the Constitution, including one under article 243, and one made by the Central Government under the Government of India Acts of 1870, 1915 or 1935. Clause (51), "rule", a rule made in exercise of a power conferred by any enactment, including a Regulation made as a rule under any enactment. Clause (15), "Constitution", the Constitution of India. Clause (39), "Official Gazette" or "Gazette", the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of a State.

The vocabulary of a statute's own parts, which is why [Internal Aids to the Interpretation of a Statute] can use these words with confidence. Clause (9), "Chapter", a Chapter of the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs. Clause (40), "Part", a Part of the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs. Clause (52), "schedule", a schedule to the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs. Clause (54), "section", a section of the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs.

Everyday words that carry a special meaning, and these are the ones that catch people out. Clause (56), "sign", with its grammatical variations, shall, with reference to a person unable to write his name, include "mark", with its grammatical variations. Clause (1), "abet", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, has the same meaning as in the Indian Penal Code. Clause (17), "District Judge", the Judge of a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction, but not a High Court in the exercise of its ordinary or extraordinary original civil jurisdiction. Clause (21), "financial year", the year commencing on the first day of April. Clause (11), "Collector", in a Presidency-town, the Collector of Calcutta, Madras or Bombay, and elsewhere the chief officer in charge of the revenue administration of a district.

Words of place and of description, including several of historical interest which survive because the Acts that use them survive: clause (5) "British India", clause (6) "British possession", clause (12) "Colony", clause (43) "Political Agent", clause (53) "Scheduled District", clause (55) "ship", meaning every description of vessel used in navigation not exclusively propelled by oars.

How to use section 3 in practice

The order of search, which is worth stating in any answer about definitions.

One, the Act being construed. Its own definitions clause governs.

Two, the General Clauses Act section 3, if the Act is a Central Act made after 1897 and its own clause does not define the word.

Three, the ordinary meaning, with the aids in [External Aids to the Interpretation of a Statute].

And at every stage the qualification "unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context" applies.

Section 4: carrying the definitions backwards

Section 4 applies the definitions in specified clauses of section 3 to Central Acts and Regulations made before the commencement of the General Clauses Act 1897, so far as those Acts remain in force, and subject to the same qualification about repugnance.

The reason is obvious once stated. A great many Acts still in force are older than 1897: the Indian Contract Act 1872, the Transfer of Property Act 1882, the Indian Evidence Act 1872 as it then was. Without section 4 the general definitions would not reach them, and every one of those Acts would have to be read on its own vocabulary.

Section 4A: carrying them to Indian laws

Section 4A applies certain of the definitions to Indian laws, as defined in section 3(29), which is a wider class than Central Acts and takes in Ordinances, Regulations, rules, orders, bye-laws and other instruments that had the force of law in a Province before the Constitution or in the specified States afterwards.

Together, sections 3, 4 and 4A extend the general definitions across nearly the whole of the pre-existing and continuing statute law.

A worked example

A fictitious Central Act of 2024, the Digital Records Act, provides:

11. Any person who fails to sign a declaration required under section 9 shall be punishable with fine.

Ravi, who cannot write, puts his thumb impression on the declaration. A company, Deshmukh Traders Private Limited, files a declaration signed by nobody. A firm's clerk swears an affirmation instead of an oath.

Is Ravi's thumb impression a signature? The Act does not define "sign". Section 3(56) of the General Clauses Act does: "sign", with reference to a person who is unable to write his name, includes "mark", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions. The Act of 2024 is a Central Act made after 1897, so section 3 reaches it, and nothing in the subject or context is repugnant. Ravi has signed.

Can the company be prosecuted? Section 11 speaks of "any person". Section 3(42) provides that "person" includes any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. So the company is a person and is within the section, subject to the practical limit that a fine and not imprisonment is what can be executed against it, which is why the section prescribes a fine.

Is the affirmation good? If the Act requires an affidavit, section 3(3) provides that "affidavit" includes affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing.

And if the Act of 2024 had contained its own definition saying "person" means a natural person? Then that definition governs. Section 3 opens with "unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context", and an Act's own definitions clause is the first place to look.

Distinctions table

What this does NOT mean

The General Clauses Act does not override an Act's own definitions. "Unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context" makes it a default.

It does not apply of its own force to State Acts. Most States have their own general clauses Acts; the Bombay General Clauses Act 1904 performs this function for Maharashtra.

It is not a code of interpretation. It supplies definitions and a set of specific rules. The literal, golden and mischief rules, the presumptions and the maxims are judge-made and appear nowhere in it.

"Person" includes a company, and does not exclude a human being. An inclusive definition adds; it does not replace.

Section 3 does not reach Acts made before 1897 by itself. Section 4 does that.

Limits and criticism

Much of section 3 is obsolete on its face. "British India", "British possession", "Colony", "Political Agent" and "Scheduled District" belong to a constitutional order that ended in 1950, and they survive because the Acts that use them survive.

The Act has never been comprehensively revised. It was passed to consolidate two nineteenth century Acts and has been amended piecemeal since, so it reads as a document of its period.

Its most important provisions are the least noticed. Section 6 saves the whole operation of repealed law and section 27 decides real disputes about notice, and neither appears in most students' answers about the Act, which stop at the definitions.

Quick revision

The Act: General Clauses Act 1897, Act 10 of 1897, assent 11 March 1897; long title, an Act to consolidate and extend the General Clauses Acts 1868 and 1887. Thirty six sections; seven shown as repealed, being ss.2, 5A, 13A, 30A, 31 and the Schedule.

Structure: Preliminary, ss.1 to 2; General definitions, ss.3 to 4A; General rules of construction, ss.5 to 13A; Powers and functionaries, ss.14 to 19; Provisions as to orders, rules etc., ss.20 to 24; Miscellaneous, ss.25 to 31.

s.3 opening: in this Act, and in all Central Acts and Regulations made after the commencement of this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.

Key clauses: (2) act, including illegal omissions; (3) affidavit, including affirmation and declaration; (7) Central Act; (9) Chapter; (13) commencement; (15) Constitution; (19) enactment; (29) Indian law; (38) offence; (39) Official Gazette; (40) Part; (42) person, including a company; (50) Regulation; (51) rule; (52) schedule; (54) section; (56) sign, including a mark.

s.4: applies the definitions to Central Acts and Regulations made before 1897. s.4A: applies certain definitions to Indian laws.

Order of search: the Act's own definitions, then s.3, then the ordinary meaning.

Test yourself

1. Why does a statute about statutes exist?

For economy, because otherwise every Act would have to define the same words and repeat the same rules; for uniformity, so that a word defined once bears the same meaning throughout the statute book and a lawyer who has learnt it has learnt it for good; and for safety, because it supplies a standing net beneath the drafting of every Central Act, so that a draftsman who omits a saving clause on a repeal does not destroy accrued rights, section 6 supplying it.

2. What is the reach of section 3, and what qualifies it?

Section 3 applies its definitions in the General Clauses Act itself and in all Central Acts and Regulations made after its commencement. It is qualified by the opening words "unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context", so a definition yields where the particular Act uses the word in another sense, and by the date: Acts made before 1897 are reached by section 4 and Indian laws by section 4A.

3. Give five definitions from section 3 with their clause numbers.

Clause (2), "act", used with reference to an offence or a civil wrong, includes a series of acts, and words referring to acts done extend also to illegal omissions. Clause (3), "affidavit", includes affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing. Clause (13), "commencement", the day on which an Act or Regulation comes into force. Clause (38), "offence", any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force. Clause (42), "person", includes any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not.

4. What do sections 4 and 4A do?

Section 4 applies specified definitions in section 3 to Central Acts and Regulations made before the commencement of the General Clauses Act 1897, so far as they remain in force, which matters because a great many Acts still in force are older than 1897. Section 4A applies certain definitions to Indian laws as defined in section 3(29), a wider class taking in Ordinances, Regulations, rules, orders, bye-laws and other instruments having the force of law. Together with section 3 they carry the general definitions across nearly the whole of the continuing statute law.

5. In what order does one look for the meaning of a word in a Central Act?

First in the definitions clause of the Act being construed, since an Act's own definition governs. Second in section 3 of the General Clauses Act 1897, if the Act is a Central Act made after 1897, and through sections 4 and 4A for older enactments and for Indian laws. Third in the ordinary meaning, assisted where necessary by the external aids such as dictionaries, subject to the rule that in a commercial or fiscal statute the trade meaning prevails. At every stage the qualification about repugnance in the subject or context applies.

6. Does the General Clauses Act 1897 apply to a Maharashtra Act?

Not of its own force. The Act is a Central Act and section 3 applies its definitions to Central Acts and Regulations. States have their own general clauses legislation for their own Acts, and for Maharashtra that function is performed by the Bombay General Clauses Act 1904. A State Act may of course apply the central definitions expressly, and a Maharashtra Act that uses a Central Act's vocabulary will ordinarily be read with that Act.