Writ jurisdiction over proposed stock exchange activity requires statutory recognition or public duty; company registration alone is insufficient.

A writ petition was held not maintainable to quash the registration of a privately incorporated company or its commencement certificate merely because it proposed to operate as a stock exchange. Registration under the Companies Act and issuance of a commencement certificate did not, by themselves, make the company a statutory authority or subject it to writ jurisdiction. Alleged pre-recognition trading issues were to be addressed by the remedies available under civil and criminal law and under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, including action for breach of section 19. Writ relief would arise only where statutory recognition or an enforceable public duty is shown.

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Issues: Whether a writ petition lay to quash the registration of a company and its commencement certificate, and to restrain it from carrying on stock exchange activity before recognition under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.

Analysis: The company was only a registered public limited company and had not yet obtained recognition as a stock exchange. Registration under the Companies Act, 1956 and issue of a commencement certificate did not make it a statutory authority or a body discharging public duties so as to attract writ jurisdiction. Any alleged illegal trading before recognition could be dealt with under the remedies provided by the civil and criminal law and under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, including action for violation of section 19. The materials relied on by the petitioner were matters for the competent authorities under the Securities Act, not grounds for quashing the company's registration or certificate in writ proceedings.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable against the company on the facts presented and was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A writ will not lie against a privately incorporated company merely because it proposes to operate as a stock exchange; amenability to writ jurisdiction arises only when a statutory recognition or enforceable public duty is shown.

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