Outcomes of writ cases - Daksh Database

High Court Writ Dashboard

Writ Petitions (including Public Interest Litigation) have captured public imagination and are a kind of court case which doesn’t deal with general law and order or civil disputes between private parties. Any time that a citizen’s rights (including fundamental rights) are violated, Article 226 of the Constitution of India empowers them to approach the relevant High Court for restoration of the right in question. The aggrieved party petitions the court to issue formal, ‘written’ orders or directions to a specific government authority for relief. Such cases help reveal how citizens interact with the judiciary as an independent pillar of the state and place their faith in courts to take action against executive overreach, impropriety or lack of action. In this Dashboard, the first tab explores data as reported by High Courts to the Supreme Court. This tab provides wider context on the scope of writ cases within the judicial system. The next three tabs use the DAKSH writ dataset to further explore subject matter, time taken and case outcomes. The complete raw dataset may be accessed under the Resources tab

Some categories of disposal worth closer attention include the following:

1. Writ petitions may be dismissed in a wide range of ways primarily, (i) on merits and (ii) other than merits (further detailed in the mapping document attached below).

Case dismissed on merits reflect instances where the Courts have heard the parties on the merits of their respective contentions / arguments and thereafter rejected the case filed holding the Petitioner to not be entitled to the relief claimed. Cases dismissed on merits may also reflect frivolous litigation, including nuisance PILs, which judges have spoken out against for wasting the courts' time.

Case dismissed other than merits include those that are dismissed in default (perhaps due to non-appearance of parties before the Court or failure of the Petitioner to comply with the Court’s procedural directions), or abated (eliminated or nullified by the Court). The exact nature of this dismissal affects whether parties can seek alternative remedies or approach the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution.2. Cases that are withdrawn are those where the Petitioner no longer wishes to pursue their legal remedy through the case - perhaps the underlying issue was addressed through a policy change or the litigant could have simply changed their mind.3. Cases may be declared infructuous when the cause of action that is the foundation of the case is no longer relevant, and the legal right no longer needs to be enforced on account of a change in facts or circumstances. One example would be a public service matter where the Petitioner has retired and is no longer interested in the job/promotion in question.4. When a case is transferred between benches of the High Court or to a specialised tribunal due to a jurisdictional issue, it must be filed and introduced again, leading to prolonged uncertainty and confusion for litigants.5. A case may be rejected by the High Court due to non-compliance with "office objections" i.e. failure to provide necessary documents / information.

6. Further, writ petitions may also be converted into PILs or appeals. Here, the High Court is dismissing the petition as originally filed and treating the same as a petition of a different kind.