Telegraph line interpretation includes wireless receiving station wires, and contemporanea expositio does not narrow the statutory language.

The expression "telegraph line" in section 34(2)(b) of the Indian Electricity Act, read with the Indian Telegraph Act definitions, is explained to include wires used in a wireless telegraphy receiving station when they form part of the receiving apparatus. The analysis states that the statutory language is wide enough to cover such modern scientific equipment, and that interpretation should not be frozen to the technical meaning prevailing at the time of enactment. The maxim contemporanea expositio is therefore not used to narrow the provision where the text accommodates later developments.

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Issues: Whether the expression "telegraph line" in section 34(2)(b) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, read with the definition provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, includes the wires used in a wireless telegraphy receiving station, and whether the maxim contemporanea expositio restricts that expression to the meaning attributable at the time of enactment.

Analysis: The combined scheme of section 34(2)(b) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and sections 3(1) and 3(4) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 showed that a telegraph line meant wires used for the purpose of an apparatus for receiving communications by means of electricity. The receiving station in question answered the statutory description of telegraph, and the wires used in the aerial and receiving apparatus were within the statutory conception of telegraph line. The interpretation was not confined to the technical understanding prevailing when the earlier Act was enacted, because modern statutes are to be read in a manner capable of accommodating new scientific developments where the language is wide enough. The maxim contemporanea expositio was therefore inapplicable to narrow the statutory words.

Conclusion: The expression "telegraph line" covered the wires of the wireless receiving station, and the challenge to the order under section 34(2)(b) failed.

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