Indian Polity,Indian Laws: Law

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Writs & Their Types

As per the Right to Constitutional Remedies-Articles 32-35, A citizen has right to move to the courts for securing the fundamental rights. Citizens can go to the Supreme Court or the high Courts for getting their fundamental rights enforced. It empowers the Courts to issue directions or orders or writs for this purpose.
Types of Writs:

Habeas corpus means “to have the body .“ It is in the nature of an order calling upon a person who has unlawfully detained another person to produce the latter before the court.
Mandamus literally means command. It is thus an order of a superior court commanding a person holding a public office or a public authority- (including the Government) to do or not to do something, in the nature of public duty.
Prohibition- A writ of prohibition is issued by a superior court to an inferior court or tribunal to prevent it from exceeding its jurisdiction and to compel it to keep within the limits of its jurisdiction.
Certiorari - A writ of certiorari has much in common with a writ of prohibition. The only difference between the two is, whereas a writ of prohibition is issued to prevent an inferior court or tribunal to go ahead with the trial of a case in which it has assumed excess of jurisdiction, a writ of certiorari is issued to quash the order passed by an inferior court or tribunal in excess of jurisdiction.
Quo Warranto - The words quo warranto means “what is your authority” ? A writ of quo warranto is issued against the holder of a public office to show to the court under what authority he holds the office.

Economic and social rights

Jawaharlal Nehru signing the Constitution of I...

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Economic and social rights

The cultural and educational rights—given in Articles 29 and 30—are measures to protect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. Any community that has a language and a script of its own has the right to conserve and develop them.No citizen can be discriminated against for admission in State or State-aided institutions.All religious and ethno-linguistic communities can set up their own educational institutions in order to preserve and develop their own culture.In granting aid to institutions, the State cannot discriminate against any institution on the basis of the fact that it is administered by a minority institution.right to life and personal liberty by the 86th constitutional amendment of 2002.^[21]The Right against exploitation, given in Articles 23 and 24 provides for the abolition of human trafficking,^[22]^[23] Child labour is considered a violation of the spirit and provisions of the constitution. Begar (forced and unfree labour), practised in the past by landlords, has been declared a crime punishable by law. Trafficking in humans for the purpose of slave trade or prostitution is prohibited by law. An exception is made in employment without payment for services for public purposes, such as compulsory military conscription.court of law to appeal against denial of the Fundamental Rights. For instance, in case of imprisonment, the person can ask the court to see if it is in accordance with the provisions of the law of the country. If the court finds that it is not, the person will be released from custody. This procedure of asking the courts to preserve or safeguard the citizens' Fundamental Rights can be done in various ways. The courts can issue writs, namely habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari.^[24] When a national or state emergency is declared, this right is suspended by the central government. The Right to property was a former Fundamental Right under Article 32 before it was revoked by the 44th Amendment Act of 1978.^[25] A new article, Article 300-A,^[26] was added to the constitution which provided that no person shall be deprived of his property, except by the authority of law. If a legislature makes a law depriving a person of his property, there would be no obligation on the part of the State to pay any compensation. The aggrieved person will have no right to move the court under Article 32. The right to property is no longer a fundamental right, though it is still a constitutional right. If the government appears to have acted unfairly, the action can be challenged in a court of law..