The meaning of any clause in a Will is to be collected from the entire instrument, and all its parts are to be construed with reference to each other.
Illustrations:
(i) The testator gives to B a specific fund or property at the death of A, and by a subsequent clause gives the whole of his property to A. The effect of the several clauses taken together is to vest the specific fund or property in A for life, and after his decease in B; it appearing from the bequest to B that the testator meant to use in a restricted sense the words in which he describes what he gives to A.
(ii) Where a testator having an estate, one part of which is called Black Acre, bequeaths the whole of his estate to A, and in another part of his Will bequeaths Black Acre to B, the latter bequest is to be read as an exception out of the first as if he had said "I give Black Acre to B, and all the rest of my estate to A".
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 82
Section 82 codifies the paramount canon of harmonious construction, mandating that the meaning of any clause in a will must be collected from the entire instrument, reading all its parts together.
This provision embodies the universal rule against piecemeal interpretation. A clause that appears absolute when read by itself may be modified, conditioned, or qualified by a subsequent or preceding clause in the document. The court's overarching duty is to harmonize all provisions so that every clause has operational effect, preventing one clause from unnecessarily destroying another.
Section 82 is the most frequently cited construction section in Indian appellate courts. Litigators seeking to qualify an apparently absolute bequest must point to surrounding clauses, recitals, and residuary terms to show that the testator intended a restricted or conditional interest. The court will never extract a single sentence out of context if the rest of the will qualifies its operation.