The point for consideration is whether a petitioner after
with-drawing a writ petition filed by him in the High Court
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India without the
permission to institute a fresh petition can file a fresh writ
petition in the High Court under that Article. On this point
the decision in Daryao's case (supra) is of no assistance. But
we are of the view that the principle underlying Rule 1 of
Order XXIII of the Code should be extended in the interests
of administration of justice to cases of withdrawal of writ
petition also, not on the ground of res judicata but on the
ground of public policy as explained above. It would also
discourage the litigant from indulging in bench-hunting
tactics. In any event there is no justifiable reason in such a
case to permit a petitioner to invoke the extraordinary
jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the
Constitution once again. While the withdrawal of a writ
petition filed in a High Court without permission to file a
fresh writ petition may not bar other remedies like a suit or
a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India since
such withdrawal does not amount to res judicata, the
remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution of India should
be deemed to have been abandoned by the petitioner in
respect of the cause of action relied on in the writ petition
when he withdraws it without such permission. In the
instant case the High Court was right in holding that a fresh
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writ petition was not maintainable before it in respect of the
same subject-matter since the earlier writ petition had been
withdrawn without permission to file a fresh petition. We,
however, make it clear that whatever we have stated in this
order may not be considered as being applicable to a writ
petition involving the personal liberty of an individual in
which the petitioner prays for the issue of a writ in the
nature of habeas corpus or seeks to enforce the
fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Constitution since such a case stands on a different footing
altogether. We, however leave this question open."