The writ jurisdiction of the High Courts under article 226 and 227 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court is very wide in its scope and ambit. Certain special types of writs such as those affecting fundamental rights can be filed directly in the Supreme Court. There can be many different types of writs each having its own scope and import. The remedy of a writ is far more expeditious than by filing a civil suit in the lower courts. A party cannot avail of both however, in that a decision on a matter either before the trial courts or under writ will exclude the remedy under the other. However as a rule of thumb writ jurisdiction can only be resorted to where the State is a party and cannot be used to settle private disputes. Powers akin to a writ are exercised by the High courts in criminal matters under sections 482 of the Crpc whose ambit and scope is very wide. Public Interest Litigation on the other hand is a species of writ, in which the adjudication of the dispute appertains to a large group or class of people who may not be party to the dispute, but the outcome of the adjudication is likely to affect them substantially.