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ALIGARH MUSLIM
UNIVERSITY
MALAPPURAM CENTRE, KERALA

GCT-2 ASSIGNMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Topic- Writ Of Mandamus and Certiorari

Submitted To Submitted By-

Mr. Shahnawaz Ahmad Malik Vaibhav Teotia
Asst. prof. 18Ballb03
Dept. of Law GJ3957
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Contents-
S.No. Particulars Pg.No

1 Introduction 3
2 Writ Of Mandamus 3
3 Nature and Scope 4
4 Grounds 4
5 General Principles of Writ of Mandamus 5
6 Writ can be issued Against? 5
7 Writ of Certiorari 6
8 Definition and Nature 7
9 Against whom it can be Issued? 8
10 Necessary Conditions 10
11 Grounds 10
12 Conclusion 12
13 References 12
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Introduction

Most of the nation’s in the world have democratic and secular nature. Such countries are open to
all communities. India is among them. Indian constitution recognise India as secular , democratic
republic. India is one of the most diverse nation in whole world either in terms or linguistic or in
religious. India is home to all major religions of the world. Hindus comprises major population
followed by Muslims, Sikhs, Jain’s, Buddhists,Parsi, Jews. Even though India have many
problems but there are some specific problems faced by Minority communities. Those problems
leads to other major problem which damages the whole socio- economic environment of the
country. Such problems must be addressed by government for prosperous development of whole
nation. It has been seen that minorities have some disadvantages in every country. Indian
minorities also faces such problems. Let us discuss the term Minority in Indian perspective and
study the problems of them in detail and try to figure out solutions for them.

Controversial Meaning of Term Minority

In general, Minority, a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with but is
subordinate to a more dominant group
N.J.Smelser : A minority group may be defined as “a group of people who, because of their
physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they
live for differential and unequal treatment and who, therefore, regard themselves as objects of
collective discrimination”
Richard T. Schaefer : “A minority group is a sub-ordinate group whose members have
significantly less control or power over their own lives than the members of a dominant group
have over theirs”
The Constitution of India uses the term minority but does not define it any where. The Supreme
Court and various High Courts have so far depended on the statistical criterion. Any community
that does not constitute more than Minorities 50% in the state is thus called a minority.
Furthermore, the Indian Constitution recognizes two types of minorities based on language
and/or religion.
The constitution mentioned the term Minority only on two occasions in Article 29 and in Article
30 but it nowhere defines the term and no effort was made to define it. It was left at the
discretion of central government to determine what constitute minorities and they found five
religious minorities in India not bothering itself that these minorities are in fact majority in few
states. The definition provided by United Nations is any group or community which is socially,
political and economically non-dominant and inferior in population are minorities.
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Muslims are in minority in India as whole but are in in Jammu and Kashmir, similarly Sikhs in
Punjab constitute majority while remaining minority in India (as per 2011 census)
But in decision to a PIL , The court further explains the term minority in context of Article 30 and states
that: Linguistic and religious minorities are covered by the expression "minority" under Article 30 of the
Constitution. Since reorganization of the States in India has been on linguistic lines, therefore, for the
purpose of determining the minority, the unit will be the State and not the whole of India. Thus,
religious and linguistic minorities, who have been put on a par in Article 30, have to be considered state
wise.

Problems Faced By Religious Minorities in India

Minorities of ethnic, religious, racial or linguistic character of different nations of the world are
facing social , political , economical and other problems. We will take a look upon them under
different heads for better understanding-

1- The Challenge of Preserving Unique Social and Cultural Life

Living in the pluralistic society , there is tough task on minorities to preserve their distinct
identities. Because of the differences in socio-cultural practices, history and backgrounds,
minorities have to grapple with the issue of identity and this give rise to the problem of
adjustment with the majority community. Minority groups attempt hard to maintain their ethnic
and cultural distinctiveness.
Because Majority of people wants them to live according to their culture and follow their life
style. It is hitting their distinct identity. However, in the constitution of India, they are given the
right to preserve their socio-cultural characteristics. It has set up a “Minorities Commission”
to help the minorities in seeking justice. Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir are fighting to
preserve their socio and cultural distinctive Identity is a good example of this.

2- Problem of Discrimination
Prejudice and discrimination are found in any situation of hostility between racial and ethnic
groups and divergent religious communities. For example , an upper caste Hindu landlord may
efuse to rent a room to someone because she or he is a Muslim or a tribal.
Minority groups are allowed to keep their distinctive qualities, yet they are still subjected to a sig
nificant deal of discrimination. Discrimination could take the form of reduced government fundi
ng for minority educational institutions, for example. In their social lives, they are frequently dis
criminated against. As a result, minority populations tend to congregate in ghettos apart from the 
majority. This is the case both in linguistic as well as religious Minority.
There are a variety of reasons for this discrimination issue, such as different eating habits (for ex
ample, Jain do not eat onion), and a large number of Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus consider meat 
consumption to be a sin, while Muslims and Christians enjoy meat consumption. There are sever
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al misconceptions that contribute to these issues, such as the belief that all terrorists are members 
of the Muslim community, and as a result, people react negatively.

3- Lack Of Representation in Politics and Civil Services

Though the constitution provides for equality and equal opportunities to all its citizens including
the religious minorities, the biggest minority community, that is, Muslims in particular, have not
availed themselves of these facilities. There is a feeling among them that they are neglected.
However, such a feeling does not seem to be economically and educationally better than the
majority community.
Since there isn’t enough representation, there aren’t enough avenues to solve problems. Since
members of one’s society are more aware of their problems and have better solutions for them.
Minorities should be given special consideration in politics so that their issues can be handled
effectively.

4- Problem of protection and security

Minorities always feel the need for security and defence. Minority groups often seek police
protection, especially during communal violence, caste disputes, and mass celebrations of
festivals and religious functions. Different identity and their small number relative to the rest of
the society develop feeling of insecurity about their life, assets and well-being. This sense of
insecurity may get accentuated at times when relations between the majority and the minority
communities in a society are strained or not much cordial.
It is also difficult for the government in power to offer such security to all members of the
minorities. It is also very costly. State governments which fail to provide such protection are
always criticized.
For example, (i) the Rajiv Gandhi Government was severely criticized for its failure to give
protection to the Sikh community in the Union Territory of Delhi on the eve of the communal
violence that broke out there soon after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. (ii) The
Gujarat State Government was criticized for its inability to provide protection to the Muslim
minorities in the recent [Feb. Mar. – 2002] communal violence that burst out. (iii) Similarly, the
Government of Jammu-Kashmir’s inefficiency in providing adequate security to the Hindu and
Sikh minorities in that State against the atrocities of Muslim extremists is also widely
condemned.

5- Communal Violence
It is most common problem in Northern parts of India, not only of Minorities but also of
majority. Still it’s worsening consequences affects minorities more. Communal tensions and
riots have been incessantly increasing since independence. Whenever the communal tensions
and riots take place for whatever reason, minority interests get threatened; fears and anxieties
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become widespread. It becomes tough task for the government in power to restore the
confidence in them.
Many acts of violence have occurred, including the 1984 SikhMuslim riots, the Gujrat Riots, the 
Muzaffarnagar Riots, and many others. The recent riots in Delhi are a clear example of how min
ority Muslims' lives have been impacted. They must flee their home in order to protect themselv
es. Many people have lost their loved ones.
We can traced the reason for this problem, why it is more in northern parts not in southern parts
of India. Because northern parts were attacked many times by Muslim leaders in history and
therefore people have grades against a particular Community.

6- Poverty – a problem of Muslim minority

As per various reports and data available, we see that minorities are much wealthier and
prosperous like Jains , Jews, Sikhs, but the largest minority in India i.e Muslims still lacks
behind in this filed too. Poverty is the very Problem of this community and they have highest
percentage of poors in all religious communities.
The Sachar committee report (for year 2004-05) claims that as much as 31 percent, precisely
one-third of Indian Muslims were dwelling below poverty line. The various reports depict the
financial position of this community of Indian population.
A report by National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has brought to light
some astonishing figures, according to which three out of ten Urban Muslims are poor i.e.
officially come below the poverty line living on a monthly income of Rs 550 and less. The rural
Muslims are more troubled as they are further down the scale. One in five rural Muslims comes
below poverty line with an average monthly income of Rs. 338 throughout the year

7- Educational problems
It is known to all that minority Jain’s are most educated Community in India even more than
majority Hindus . But muslim community is facing educational problems. Sacchar Committee
Report was the first attempt to identify Muslims problems related to education and it has been
proved that Muslims are actually facing problems in education.
According to recent data collected by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 2006,
only 3.6% of Muslims who are above the twenties are college graduates, 54.6% Muslims in
Villages and 60% in urban areas never went to schools. There are 3.1% of the Muslims
community in urban areas and 1.2% who are postgraduates. In rural areas only 0.8% of Muslims
are graduates. The committee also found that there are insufficient numbers of government
schools in Muslim majority areas that‟s why less number of children attending the school. And
shockingly there is only 6% share of Muslims in government jobs in every field, especially in
high Muslim population states.
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Lack of education leads to unemployment and which ultimately leads to Poverty and the cycle
continues.

8- Criminal acts – Mob lynching

Right wing extremist lynched Muslims in the name of cow protection, whom they consider
sacred and mother. India has witnessed large number of cases of hate crimes like lynching.
Recently, two catholic sisters were dragged out of train in UP also molested by some orthodox
groups , as they alleged them as forceful converters.
Minorities come under the cloud of fear of such incidents. Ironically, these kind of acts are
increasing and it becomes a habit of some organization and their activists. This is hitting the
roots of Indian democracy.
According to a Reuters report, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks had occurred in India between
2010 and mid 2017, most after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. In these
attacks between 2010 and June 2017, “28 Indians – 24 of them Muslims – were killed and 124
injured”, states the Reuter’s report.

Question on their Nationalism-