Varun is arrested by the police without any warrant and is not produced before a magistrate, and his family believes that his detention is illegal. Which writ should they move the High Court or the Supreme Court for, to secure his release?

Habeas corpus, literally meaning 'you may have the body', is the writ by which a court orders the detaining authority to produce the detained person and justify the detention; if the detention is unlawful, the person is set at liberty. It is the appropriate remedy where a person is arrested without lawful authority or is detained without being produced before a magistrate within twenty-four hours as required by Article 22(2). Mandamus commands a public authority to perform a public duty; certiorari and prohibition are directed at quashing orders of, or preventing excesses of jurisdiction by, inferior courts and tribunals; and quo warranto challenges the right of a person to hold a public office. Since the grievance is unlawful detention, habeas corpus is correct, and it lies before the Supreme Court and the High Courts.