Question

Answer the following question:

Explain various types of writs. When are they issued?

Answer 1

Supreme Court and High Courts protect Fundamental Rights from being eroded.

They issue the following writs to the offending party:

1. Habeous Corpus: It can get the body of any person released if it has been illegally captured.
2. Prohibition: This is an order from a superior court to an inferior court to stop proceedings in a case which might be contemplating to do in excess of its jurisdiction.
3. Certiorari: The writ is issued by a superior court to a judicial or quasi-judicial authorities in order to quash its order or decision. The difference between Prohibition and Certiorari is that while the former is issued when certain proceedings are still going on, the latter is issued only when the order has already been passed.
4. Mandamus: It literally means ‘we command’. This writ is thus a sort of command from a superior court to a subordinate court or an administrative authority in case they refuse to exercise their jurisdiction and fail to perform their duty.
5. Quo Warranto: Such a type of writ is issued by a court to a public servant to enquire into the legality of his holding a public office and to oust him if his claim is not well-founded. Then this writ prevents an unlawful claimant from holding a superior public office.