[Solved] With reference to writs issued by the Courts in India, consider the following statements: Mandamus will not lie against a private organisation unless it is entrusted with a public duty. Mandamus will not lie against a Company even though it may be a Government company. Any public minded person can be a petitioner to move the court to obtain the writ of Quo Warranto. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q18) With reference to writs issued by the Courts in India, consider the following statements:

1. Mandamus will not lie against a private organisation unless it is entrusted with a public duty.
2. Mandamus will not lie against a Company even though it may be a Government company.
3. Any public minded person can be a petitioner to move the court to obtain the writ of Quo Warranto.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: 3

Mandamus literally means ‘we command’. It is a command issued by the court to a public official asking him to perform the official duties that he has failed or refused to perform.

· Statement 2 is correct (as per UPSC): It can also be issued against any public body, a corporation, an inferior court, a tribunal, or government for the same purpose.

· Statement 1 is correct: The writ of mandamus cannot be issued:

o against a private individual or body.

o to enforce departmental instruction that does not possess statutory force.

o when the duty is discretionary and not mandatory to enforce a contractual obligation.

Private companies and Writ

Case Name : S Shobha versus Muthoot Finance Ltd Case 2025

· Private companies including scheduled banks and NBFC’s are not subject to writ jurisdiction as they do not perform public functions.

· NBFC’s are not STATE under Article 12 and “Function Test” should be used to decide maintainability of Writ application.

· A body, public or private, should not be categorised as “amenable” or “not amenable” to writ jurisdiction as the most important and vital consideration should be the “function” test as regards the maintainability of a writ application.

· In exceptional cases a writ of mandamus or a writ in the nature of mandamus may be issued to a private body, but only where a public duty is cast upon such private body by a statute or statutory rule and only to compel such body to perform its public.

· “If a public duty or public function is involved, anybody, public or private, concerned or connection with that duty or function, and limited to that, would be subject to judicial scrutiny under the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of Article 226 of the constitution.

· A writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India may be maintainable against

o the State Government;

o Authority;

o a statutory body;

o an instrumentality or agency of the State;

o a company which is financed and owned by the State;

o a private body run substantially on State funding;

o a private body discharging public duty or positive obligation of public nature; and

o a person or a body under liability to discharge any function under any Statute, to compel it to perform such a statutory function.

o against the president of India or the state governors.

o against the chief justice of a high court acting in a judicial capacity.

· Statement 3 is correct: Quo Warranto means ‘by what authority or warrant’. It is issued by the court to enquire into the legality of the claim of a person to a public office. Hence, it prevents illegal usurpation of public office by a person.

· The writ can be issued only in case of a substantive public office of a permanent character created by a statute or by the Constitution. It cannot be issued in cases of ministerial office or private office. Any interested person and not necessarily the aggrieved person can seek Quo Warranto writ.