What is the effect of proviso? Does it qualify the main provisions of the enactment? Explain it with reference to Interpretation of Statutes.

Normally a Proviso is added to a section of an Act to except something or qualify something stated in that particular section to which it is added. A proviso should not be, ordinarily, interpreted as a general rule. Usually, a proviso is embedded in the main body of the section and becomes an integral part of it. The effect of the proviso is to qualify the preceding enactment which is expressed in terms which are too general. It is a cardinal rule of interpretation that a proviso or exception to a particular provision of a statute only embraces the field which is covered by the main provision. It carves out an exception to the main provision to which it has been enacted as a proviso and to no other. (Ram Narain Sons Ltd. vs. Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax, AIR 1955 SC 765).