UPSC Prelims 2022 · GS Paper I
Question 18: Polity and Governance
With reference to the 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 ?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).
Mandamus commands a public authority to perform a public duty. It does not lie against a purely private body unless that body has been entrusted with a public duty. By the traditional rule applied here, it is also not issued against a company, even a government company, which is a separate legal entity and not itself a statutory authority. Quo warranto challenges a person's claim to a public office, and any public-spirited person may move the court; the petitioner need not be personally aggrieved.
- 1. A private body is amenable to mandamus only where it performs a public duty.
- 2. UPSC treats a company, even a government one, as a separate entity against which mandamus does not lie.
- 3. Quo warranto can be sought by any public-minded person, not only the aggrieved.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) goes: it leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: A private body is amenable to mandamus only where it performs a public duty.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (c) goes: it leaves 2 out.
What you needed to know: UPSC treats a company, even a government one, as a separate entity against which mandamus does not lie.
- Then, if you were sure statement 3 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 3 out.
What you needed to know: Quo warranto can be sought by any public-minded person, not only the aggrieved.
Only (d) is left. This one needs every statement.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong. Statement 3 is also correct.
- (b) Wrong. Statement 1 is also correct.
- (c) Wrong. Statement 2 is also correct in UPSC's key.
- (d) Correct. All three statements are accepted as correct.
Worth knowing: Statement 2 is contestable, since courts have issued writs against government companies that act as instrumentalities of the State, but UPSC's key treats it as correct.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2022, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.