Purpose of a legal fiction

The judgment applied the legal fiction preserving pre-existing laws after bifurcation. A legal fiction must be given effect for its statutory purpose. Here, that purpose included continuity in the successor States. The relevant notification had been treated as having the status of law. A contrary interpretation would undermine the continuity framework. The Court followed the approach in its earlier decisions. The notification did not cease to operate solely because of bifurcation. The High Court’s contrary conclusion could not stand. (The Joint Director (Rayalaseema), Anti-Corruption Bureau, A.P. & Anr. v. Dayam Peda Ranga Rao | 2026 INSC 37)