*The Mimansa Principles of Interpretation* ~ Justice Markandey Katju, Supreme Court of India (Retd.) [(1993) 1 SCC (Jour) 16] "In ancient and medieval India there was tremendous development not only in the fields of Science and Philosophy, but also in the field of law. However, the advent of British rule denied us the benefits of these developments as the alien rulers made it a policy to demoralise and denigrate us by propagating the idea that Indians were a race with no worthwhile achievement to their credit. In this article only one aspect of our native Jurisprudence, viz. our traditional principles of interpretation, has been dealt with, and the aim is to show that the propaganda of Westerners is false. As is well known, the principles of interpretation of statutes mainly relied on in our law courts are those dealt with in the works of Western jurists like Maxwell and Craies. However, in our country we had developed from very early times a scientific system of interpretation known as the Mimansa Principles1 and these were regularly followed by our renowned jurists like Vijnaneshwara (author of Mitakshara), Jimutvahana (author of Dayabhag), Nanda Pandit (author of Dattak Mimansa) etc. Whenever there was any conflict between the Smritis e.g. Manusmriti and Yagnavalkya Smriti, or ambiguity in a Shruti or Smriti, the Mimansa Principles were applied. Most of these principles are rational and scientific, and in some respects superior to the principles obtaining in Western Law. At present there is no reason why we should not apply them in appropriate cases." https://www.ebc-india.com/lawyer/articles/93v1a4.htm