Section 9

This is a general interpretation rule borrowed from standard drafting practice (similar to Section 13 of the General Clauses Act, 1897). Laws cannot practically list every possible singular and plural variation of every word. Section 9 was included so that courts and citizens do not get confused or find loopholes just because a section uses 'a person' instead of 'persons', or 'thing' instead of 'things'. It ensures the law applies sensibly regardless of number, unless the context demands a strict one-only or many-only reading.

Courts have generally applied this section as a common-sense tool of statutory construction, treating singular and plural as interchangeable in offence definitions unless the specific wording or intent of a section clearly points to only one number (for example, provisions dealing specifically with a single victim or a single act). There is no major landmark case reshaping this rule; it is applied routinely and uncontroversially as a background interpretive principle.

• Myth: If a law says 'a person', it can never apply to a crime involving multiple people.
  Fact: Section 9 clarifies that singular words include the plural (and plural includes singular) unless the context clearly requires only one meaning, so such technical arguments usually fail.