In *AV Fernandez v. State of Kerala*, AIR 1957 SC 657, the Supreme Cou…

Question

In *AV Fernandez v. State of Kerala*, AIR 1957 SC 657, the Supreme Court explained the rule of interpretation of fiscal statutes. Which proposition correctly captures the rule?

Accepted Answer

B. {'text': 'In construing fiscal statutes and in determining the liability of a subject to tax, one must have regard to the strict letter of the law and not merely to the spirit of the statute or the substance of the law', 'label': 'B'}

1. *AV Fernandez v. State of Kerala*, AIR 1957 SC 657, is the leading authority on construction of fiscal statutes in Lesson 14.
2. The Supreme Court held: "**In construing fiscal statutes and in determining the liability of a subject to tax one must have regard to the strict letter of the law** and not merely to the spirit of the statute or the substance of the law."
3. If the cases are not covered within the four corners of the taxing statute, no tax can be imposed by inference, analogy or by probing legislative intention.
4. This is the strict-construction rule for fiscal legislation.
_Source: ICSI CS Executive Paper 1 — Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws, Lesson 14 (Indian Stamp Act, 1899), pp. 337-353._

Answer

{'text': 'Fiscal statutes must always be construed liberally in favour of the Revenue under any provision of any law in force in any State of India regardless of any other consideration of any kind under any law in force', 'label': 'A'}

Answer

{'text': 'Fiscal statutes must always be construed liberally in favour of the assessee under any provision of any law in force in any State of India regardless of any other consideration of any kind under any law in force', 'label': 'C'}

Answer

{'text': 'Fiscal statutes must always be construed by reference to the legislative intention not expressed in the text under any provision of any law in force in any State of India regardless of any other consideration of any kind', 'label': 'D'}