• Md. Emdadul Haque

Writs may be concisely defined as a written document by which one is summoned or required to do or refrain from doing something. An attempt has been made in this research to study the Writ Jurisdiction of the High Courts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The origin of writs is embedded in the history of common law and judicial institution in England. Besides the Common Law remedies there is the extraordinary remedy by way of writs. Initially writs were royal prerogatives. They were called prerogative writs because they were conceived as being intimately connected with the rights of the Crown. The king issued them against his officers to compel them to exercise their functions properly or to prevent them from abusing their powers The King issued writs through the Court of King’s Bench or the Court of Chancery. In British India a Supreme Court (at Calcutta) was first established in 1774 under the Regulating Act of 1773. This court was first empowered to issue prerogative writs. Later on two Supreme Courts were established in Madras (in 1800) and Bombay (in 1823) and these two courts were also given writ power. In 1862 three Supreme Courts were abolished and in their place three High Courts were established. These three High Courts were empowered to issue prerogative writs. After the partition in 1947 India and Pakistan became two independent Dominions. The Indian Constitution adopted in 1949 gave both the Supreme Court and the High Court’s power to issue writs and specific names of all writs were incorporated in both articles of 32 (for the Supreme Court) and 226 (for the High Court’s). Under 1956's Constitution of Pakistan both the Supreme Court and the High Courts were given power to issue writs and specific names of all writs were incorporated in both the articles of 22 (for the Supreme Court) and 170 (for the High Court’s). But it was 1962's Constitution of Pakistan where for the first time a change was introduced in writ matters. Unlike earlier the Supreme Court was not given any original writ jurisdiction. Only the High Courts were empowered under article 98 to issue writs but unlike earlier the particular names of specific writs were not used in wording of this article. Provisions were made instead where true contents of each of the major writs had been set out in self-contained propositions. Following the instance of the Pakistan 1962 Constitution the Constitution makers of Bangladesh also did not incorporate the specific names of various writs in Article 102 of the constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Subsequently the Pakistan Constitution of 1973 in art. 199 retained the formulation of art 98 of the former constitution. Thus, it is seen that gradually as the governmental function increased and the concept of rule of Law emerged and the Courts become independent, writs came to be the prerogatives of the courts instead of the King and lastly they came to be the prerogatives of the people, for they are now guaranteed right in the Constitution of many countries and citizens can invoke them as of right.

Writ Petition, Public Interest, Vulnerable Section, Fundamental Rights, Court, Public-Spirited

"Practices of Writs in Bangladesh: Analysis and Evaluation", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no.k28-k35, May-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305A04.pdf

"Practices of Writs in Bangladesh: Analysis and Evaluation", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no. ppk28-k35, May-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305A04.pdf