Quo Warranto

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 Quo warranto

                 It is a Latin term means 'what is your authority or show your authority' by issuing  this writ the person concerned is called upon to show the court by what authority he holds the office or liberty .If the holder has no authority to hold the office he can be ousted from its enjoyment.

Object       

             The object of the Quo-warranto  is to control executive action in the matter of making appointment of public offices against the relevance statutory provision.

 Conditions

1) Nature of the office must be public

                          The means an office in which Public has interest. Before the writ can be issued by the court the court must be satisfied that the office in question is a public office and the older thereof has no legal authority to hold the  said office.

2) The office Must be of substantive  characters

                            It means the office in question must be an independent office and the holder of such office must be an independent official.

3) The office must be statutory or constitutional

                           A writ of quo warranto may be issued in respect of offices of prime minister advocate general, judge of high court, Public Prosecutor, Speaker of House of the state legislature, member of municipal body, University officials etc .

4) The holder must have asserted his claim to the office

                           A mere making a claim to the office is not enough .

                  Quo-Warranto is a discretionary remedy and the petitioner cannot Claim this writ as of right. Supreme Court in Rameshwar vs State 1961, held that Court may refuse or grant this writ taking into account the fact and circumstances of the case .This writ may also be refused on ground that suitable alternative remedy is available to the petitioner. Moreover a writ of quo warranto cannot be refused only on the ground of delay because the appointment of the officer will be illegal hence every act of everyday give a fresh cause of action and hence petition cannot be dismissed on the ground of delay.

 

 

 

 Conclusion

       One of the important and fundamental concept in English as well as in Indian legal system is Ubi Jus ibi remedium , for example wherever  there is a right there is a remedy . The right and remedy are two sides of same coin and they cannot be separated from each other. One of such remedies available to an individual aggrieved by any action of Administrative authority is judicial review by way of prerogative remedies. There Prerogative remedies are provided with writs. The constitution of India under article 32 and 226 gives power to the supreme court and the high court to issue prerogative  writs in the nature of habeas Corpus ,mandamus ,prohibition, certiorari, Quo waerranto.  The framer of the Indian Constitution made specific provisions in the constitution itself empowering the supreme court and high courts to issue above writs.  Therefore these remedies are also known as constitutional remedies.