Which of the following is NOT correctly matched ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Prohibition — 'To be certified'. This is the mismatched pair, and in a 'NOT correctly matched' question the mismatch is the answer. Prohibition literally means 'to forbid'. It is a writ issued by a superior court to a lower court or tribunal telling it to stop proceeding in a matter that lies beyond its jurisdiction — a purely preventive remedy, available only against judicial and quasi-judicial bodies. The Latin phrase 'to be certified' (or 'to be more fully informed') belongs to a different writ altogether: certiorari, under which a superior court either transfers a pending case to itself or quashes an order already passed by a lower court or tribunal. Because the meaning attached to Prohibition in option (c) actually describes certiorari, the pair is wrong and the answer is (c).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Correctly matched, so it cannot be the answer. Habeas corpus does mean 'to have the body of'. The court orders the person who is detaining another to produce the detained person before it and to justify the detention; if the detention is unlawful the person is set free. It is the one writ that lies against private individuals as well as public authorities.  (b) Correctly matched, so it cannot be the answer. Mandamus does mean 'we command'. It is issued to a public official, a public body, a corporation, an inferior court, a tribunal or a government that has failed to perform a public duty, commanding performance. It cannot be issued to enforce a purely discretionary or contractual duty, nor against a private individual or body unless that body is entrusted with a public duty.  (d) Correctly matched, so it cannot be the answer. Quo warranto does mean 'by what authority' or 'by what warrant'. The court enquires into the legality of a person's claim to a public office and, if the claim is bad, restrains that person from holding it. It lies only for a substantive public office of a permanent character created by the Constitution or a statute, and any interested person may seek it — the petitioner need not be personally aggrieved.

Concept: The five writs — habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto — are borrowed from English law, where they were prerogative writs of the Crown. The Supreme Court issues them under Article 32 and the High Courts under Article 226. The two powers are not identical: Article 32 allows writs only for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights and the right to move the Supreme Court under it is itself a Fundamental Right, while Article 226 allows writs for Fundamental Rights 'and for any other purpose', which makes the High Court's writ jurisdiction wider in scope though discretionary in exercise.

State PCS 2019 Q147 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q147 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer