ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to look at the origin and development of the writ jurisdiction, to examine the importance which this jurisdiction has attained in India, and to consider the suitability of the jurisdiction for the purposes for which it is being used. Two observations of a general nature on the jurisdiction thus conferred on the Supreme and High Courts of India may be made. The scope of the principal writs in India is, subject to two qualifications, substantially the same as in the country. A writ of mandamus in India is of wider ambit than an order of mandamus in this country. Legislation in India, as in this country, increasingly tends to provide for the determination of questions which affect the rights of citizens by such tribunals; tribunals which may, and often do, consist of a single individual. The jurisdiction is however subject to certain restrictions and limitations, and the question remains whether they can be removed or reduced.
