‘Mandamus mania has impacted performance of courts’

Deprecating the conduct of litigants and advocates filing writ petitions seeking court direction to the authorities concerned without giving them reasonable time to look into issues, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that the constitutional court had been woefully reduced to a below par performer as a result. The trend had reached an alarming level that a representation was submitted to an authority for action and simultaneously a writ of mandamus was filed seeking a direction to dispose of the representation. Now, every official expected court direction for administrative functions, the court observed.