certiorarified mandamus The expression means a merger of the two writs, viz., certiorari and mandamus. Mandamus comes in to help certiorari. In the Indian context this has been applied, where an officer under a taxing statute had a quasi-judicial function to assess the tax. He did so and collected the tax. In a petition under Art. 266 of the Constitution on India, the Act was held to be ultra vires and void. Since certiorari could only quash the order, a mandamus was required to direct refund of the amount collected. Mandamus was thus certiorarified and then issued.