UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 147 of 150

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).

• (a)Habeas corpus — 'To have the body of' — 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)Mandamus — 'We command' — 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)Quo-warranto — 'By what authority' — 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.

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.

Prohibition and certiorari are the pair that examiners deliberately confuse, because both are aimed at courts and tribunals below. Fix the difference by timing and by literal meaning. Prohibition — 'to forbid' — is preventive: it stops proceedings while they are still going on. Certiorari — 'to be certified' — is both preventive and curative: the record is called up, and the offending order can be quashed after it has been passed. Prohibition lies only against judicial or quasi-judicial authorities; certiorari has since been extended by the Supreme Court to administrative authorities whose decisions affect the rights of individuals.

• Literal meanings: habeas corpus = 'to have the body of'; mandamus = 'we command'; prohibition = 'to forbid'; certiorari = 'to be certified' or 'to be more fully informed'; quo warranto = 'by what authority'.
• The Supreme Court issues writs under Article 32 only for enforcement of Fundamental Rights; High Courts issue them under Article 226 for Fundamental Rights and for any other purpose, so Article 226 is wider in scope.
• Prohibition is preventive and lies only against judicial and quasi-judicial bodies; certiorari is both preventive and curative and can quash an order already made.
• Habeas corpus is the only writ available against private individuals as well as the State; mandamus does not lie against a private body unless it is entrusted with a public duty.
• Quo warranto is confined to a substantive public office of a permanent character created by statute or the Constitution, and can be moved by any interested person, not only the aggrieved party.

• Swapping prohibition and certiorari — 'to forbid' versus 'to be certified' is the single most tested distinction in this topic.
• Assuming Article 32 is wider than Article 226; it is narrower, because Article 32 covers only Fundamental Rights.
• Believing every writ can be issued against private persons — only habeas corpus can, and mandamus only where a public duty has been entrusted.

UPPSC asks the literal meaning or the pair-matching form directly, as here; UPSC prefers the application — which writ lies against whom, and in what situation, as in its 2022 statement set on mandamus and quo warranto and its 2024 question on what a writ of prohibition actually orders.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The writ of Certiorari literally means

  • (a)to have the body of
  • (b)we command
  • (c)to be certified
  • (d)by what authority

  Answer(c) to be certified — also rendered as 'to be more fully informed'. The superior court calls for the record of a lower court or tribunal and may transfer the case to itself or quash the order passed.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following writs can be issued only against judicial and quasi-judicial authorities, and not against administrative bodies, legislative bodies or private individuals?

  • (a)Habeas corpus
  • (b)Mandamus
  • (c)Prohibition
  • (d)Quo warranto

  Answer(c) Prohibition — it is issued by a superior court to a lower court or tribunal to stop it exceeding its jurisdiction, and is unavailable against administrative authorities, legislative bodies or private individuals.