Writ of Certiorari

The certiorari writ is a corrective order issued by the Supreme Court or a High Court to a lower court, tribunal, or quasi-judicial authority, directing it to send up the record of a case already decided so that the order can be examined and quashed if it was passed without or in excess of jurisdiction. Unlike prohibition, which stops an overreach before it happens, certiorari acts after the fact — it undoes a decision that has already been made.

Constitutional Basis

Certiorari is one of the five writs named in Article 32(2), which empowers the Supreme Court to issue "directions or orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari," for enforcing the Fundamental Rights in Part III. Article 226 gives every High Court the same power, but with a wider purpose — the writ can be issued not only for enforcing Part III rights but "for any other purpose" as well, meaning a High Court can use certiorari to correct jurisdictional errors even where no fundamental right is directly at stake.

What Certiorari Actually Does

At its core, certiorari is about jurisdiction, not merits. When a subordinate court, tribunal, or authority exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions acts beyond the powers legally given to it — an ultra vires act — the higher court can call up the record of proceedings and quash the resulting order. The writ does not ask whether the decision was right or wrong on the facts; it asks whether the body that made the decision was legally entitled to make it in the first place, or made it while ignoring the basic rules of the law it was applying.

Certiorari Compared With Prohibition

Certiorari and prohibition are close cousins — both deal with a court or authority overstepping its jurisdiction — but they operate at different points in time.

Feature	Prohibition	Certiorari
Timing	Issued before a final order is passed	Issued after a final order is passed
Effect	Stops proceedings from continuing	Quashes an order already made
Nature	Preventive	Corrective

Who Can Be Proceeded Against

Certiorari originated as a remedy against inferior courts and tribunals but has since been extended to any authority exercising judicial or quasi-judicial powers — statutory tribunals, commissions, and administrative bodies deciding rights between parties. A purely administrative or legislative act, where no judicial determination of rights is involved, does not attract certiorari in the same way.

Why the Writ Exists

The broader justification for all five Article 32/226 writs, certiorari included, is that Fundamental Rights and legal rights generally would be meaningless without a mechanism to correct their violation. Certiorari specifically fills the gap left when a decision-making body oversteps the limits the law placed on it — the higher court does not retry the case, it simply removes the order that should never have been passed and, typically, sends the matter back for a fresh, lawful decision.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Certiorari is one of the five writs listed in Article 32(2) and Article 226 — know all five together (habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, certiorari).
• Distinguish certiorari (corrective, after the order) from prohibition (preventive, before the order) — a recurring objective-question trap.

Mains

• Explain certiorari's role in judicial superintendence over tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies, and how it supports the rule of law (GS2, Polity and Governance).
• Discuss how the extension of certiorari from courts to administrative tribunals reflects the growth of administrative law in India.

FAQ

What does the writ of certiorari do? It allows a higher court to call up the record of a case decided by a lower court, tribunal, or quasi-judicial authority and quash the order if it was passed without jurisdiction or in excess of jurisdiction.

How is certiorari different from prohibition? Prohibition is preventive and issued before a final order is passed to stop a body from continuing beyond its jurisdiction; certiorari is corrective and issued after the order has already been passed, to quash it.

Which authorities can issue a writ of certiorari? The Supreme Court, under Article 32, for enforcement of Fundamental Rights; and any High Court, under Article 226, for enforcement of Fundamental Rights and for any other purpose.

Can certiorari be issued against a purely administrative decision? Certiorari classically targets bodies exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions; it is most directly applicable where the authority is deciding rights between parties rather than performing a purely executive act.

Does certiorari examine whether a decision was correct on the facts? No — its focus is jurisdictional: whether the deciding authority had the legal power to decide the matter and followed the basic rules of law in doing so, not whether the outcome was factually right.

Quick Revision

• Certiorari = corrective writ, issued after an order is passed, to quash it.
• Basis: Article 32 (Supreme Court, for Fundamental Rights) and Article 226 (High Courts, for Fundamental Rights and any other purpose).
• Ground: order passed without jurisdiction or in excess of jurisdiction (ultra vires).
• Prohibition = before the order (preventive); Certiorari = after the order (corrective).
• Applies to courts, tribunals, and quasi-judicial authorities.

Sources

• The Constitution of India, Article 32 and Article 226 — legislative.gov.in

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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