Failure to file returns required by Sec. 6 or Sec. 7; petition for mandamus; hearings; costs

Section 9. If any person fails to file an income tax return required by section six or seven of this chapter, any justice of the supreme judicial or the superior court, on petition of the commissioner or of any ten taxable inhabitants of the commonwealth, shall issue a writ of mandamus requiring such person to file such return. The order of notice on the petition shall be returnable not later than ten days after the filing thereof. The petition shall be heard and determined on the return day or on such day thereafter as the court shall fix, having regard to the speediest possible determination of the cause consistent with the rights of the parties. The judgment shall include costs in favor of the prevailing party. All writs and processes may be issued from the clerk's office in any county, and, except as aforesaid, shall be returnable as the court orders.