Limited purpose of legal fictions deeming tribunals as courts

When a statutory provision creates a legal fiction deeming a quasi-judicial body or tribunal to be a "court" for specific and limited purposes, such as enforcing attendance, examining witnesses, or inspecting documents, the deeming fiction must strictly be confined to those specified statutory purposes. Such limited deeming clauses cannot be stretched or extended beyond their legislative intent to transform the tribunal into a civil court for all purposes or to clothe it with general powers under the Limitation Act, 1963. (The Property Company (P) Ltd. v. Rohinten Daddy Mazda | 2026 INSC 33)