CA Intermediate · Corporate and Other Laws · Interpretation of Statutes
A statute penalises 'any person who sells liquor, wine, beer or other intoxicating drinks' near a school without a licence. Ramesh sells a bottle of intoxicating medicinal tonic containing alcohol. Applying the rule of ejusdem generis, what is the correct position?
The tonic is not automatically covered. Under ejusdem generis, general words following a list of specific items are limited to things of the same kind. Since liquor, wine and beer are beverages, 'other intoxicating drinks' means similar beverages, not a medicinal tonic.
- AThe tonic is covered because 'other' must be read in its widest possible sense
- BThe tonic is not covered automatically, because the general words 'other intoxicating drinks' are limited to things of the same kind as liquor, wine and beer, that is, beveragesCorrect
- CThe provision is void for vagueness and cannot be applied to anyone
- DThe tonic is covered only if the Court first finds that the Legislature made a drafting mistake
Explanation
Ejusdem generis means general words following specific words of a class are limited to that class. The specific words are all beverages, so 'other intoxicating drinks' is read as similar beverages. A medicinal tonic is not of the same genus, so option A, which gives 'other' its widest meaning, is wrong.
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