THE DOCTRINE OF HARMONIOUS CONSTRUCTION IN THE INTERPRETATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTES By Ishani Acharya and Rahul Das 1 Abstract: Even when the legislature drafts laws with utmost care and precision, keeping in mind all the present situations and the future scenarios that might arise, often there are times when an unexpected situation might come up. But sometimes, the legislature purposely leaves lacunae in the law, either because of lack of common consensus in the Parliament or because it feels that the legal policy can be implemented better if decided on a case by case basis. Because of these reasons, a need for interpretation and construction of statutes and their provisions arises. There are many rules for the judiciary to adhere to during the interpretation and construction of statutes and the doctrine of the rule of harmonious construction is one of them. This essay attempts to explain the concept and principles of the doctrine of harmonious construction and illustrate its use with many examples. 1 BA LLB (Business Law Hons.), School of Law, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar