- BENEFICIAL

CONSTRUCTION The tendency for

benevolence

BENEFICENT CONSTRUCTION
A legislation which is directed to
cure some immediate mischief and
bring into effect some social
reform
by
ameliorating
the
condition of certain class of
persons who according to the
present-day notions may not have
been treated fairly in the past are
remedial statutes.
Central Railway Workshop, Jhansi v. Vishwanath

Such statutes are given beneficent

The Premise

If the object of legislation is to benefit a parti

The Premise

Beneficent Construction
for Remedial Statutes
Redressal or compensation for the aggrieved

Beneficent
Construction

Baldev Sahai v. R.C. Bhasin

The findings of the Court

Therefore.

The basic
question

U. Unichoyi v. State of Kerala

The Court held in this case

Prevention of worker working in starvation wa

B. Shah v. Presiding
Officer, Labour Court,
Coimbatore & Others

Sec 5 of the Maternity Benefit Act 1961:

Right to payment of maternity benefit
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act,
every woman shall be entitled to, and her
employer shall be liable for, the payment
of maternity benefit at the rate of
average daily wage for the period of her
actual absence immediately preceding
and including the day of her delivery and
for the six weeks immediately following
that day.

B.Shah case
EXPLANATION- For the purpose of this subsection, the average daily wage means the
average of the womans wages payable to her for
the days on which she has worked during the
period of three calendar months immediately
preceding the date from which she absents
herself on account of maternity, or one rupee a
day, whichever is higher.
The maximum period for which any woman is
entitled to maternity benefit shall be 12 weeks,
i.e. to say 6 weeks before and including the day
of her delivery and 6 weeks immediately
following that day.

Construction of the word

Week
Week
Literal Week
Working
Week
(7 Days)
(6 Days)
The definition of week was not
provided in the Act.
Court adhered to the dictionary
meaning: - A cycle of 7 Days.

Construction of week
by the court

The realm of Beneficent

Construction: - Some
Pointers
Interpretation without doing violence to the langu

The Sympathy Factor

Secretary of Karnataka v.
Umadevi (2006) 4 SCC 1

Sympathy alone cannot be a ground for passing a favorable

Mugnilal v. Sugan Chand

Sec 4(a) of the M.P. Accommodation Control Act, 1955

Mugnilal v. Sugan Chand

Other important aspects

in a beneficial legislation
A provision for recovery of
damages for the benefit of
employees, which contains no
period of limitation, cannot be
defeated by introduction of the
concept of reasonable time as an
implied period of limitation.
- Hindustan Times Ltd. v. Union of
India

Other important aspects

in a beneficial legislation
The
effect
of
a
beneficial
legislation is not defeated by a
subsequent legislation except
through a clear provision.
- Noor Sabah Khatoon v. Mohd.
Quasim

Noor Saba Khatoon v.

Mohd. Quasim

H. Shiva
Rao v.
Cecila
Perira

Less inhibition against

retrospective application

Thereforeto sum up

The benefits conferred upon a welfare legislati