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Public Interest Litigation

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10 views

Public Interest Litigation

Uploaded by

pshanjalwrites
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Justice P.N.

Bhagawati - Founder of PIL in India


He designed rules for filing PIL
Even a postcard to the court should be considered a petition
Court can accept the petition without any fee

PIL is said to be emerged from America(U.S.A)

Fundamental rights gets vast with PIL in action.

How to file?

Any Indian Citizen


For social cause not for personal
Courts themselves can appoint lawyers to such cases

Can be filed in Supreme Court, High Court

The petitioner must be aware of the situation

Acceptance Rate - 40-60%

Content that should be present in ppt:

Meaning of PIL
Features
Scope
Principle
Guidelines for admitting PIL

The expression ‘Public Interest Litigation’ has been borrowed from American
jurisprudence.

Public interest Litigation (PIL) means litigation filed in a court of law, for the
protection of “Public Interest”, such as Pollution, Terrorism, Road safety,
Constructional hazards etc. Any matter where the interest of public at large is
affected can be redressed by filing a Public Interest Litigation in a court of law.

Public interest litigation is not defined in any statute or in any act. It has been
interpreted by judges to consider the intent of public at large.

Some of the matters which are entertained under PIL are:


Bonded Labour matters
Neglected Children
Non-payment of minimum wages to workers and exploitation of casual workers
Atrocities on women
Environmental pollution and disturbance of ecological balance
Food adulteration
Maintenance of heritage and culture

The seeds of the concept of public interest litigation were initially sown in India
by Justice Krishna Iyer, in 1976 in Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs. Abdul Thai.

The first reported case of PIL was Hussainara Khatoon vs. State of Bihar (1979)
that focused on the inhuman conditions of prisons and under trial prisoners that
led to the release of more than 40,000 under trial prisoners.
Right to speedy justice emerged as a basic fundamental right which had been denied
to these prisoners. The same set pattern was adopted in subsequent cases.

A new era of the PIL movement was heralded by Justice P.N. Bhagawati in the case of
S.P. Gupta vs. Union of India.

In this case it was held that “any member of the public or social action group
acting bonafide” can invoke the Writ Jurisdiction of the High Courts (under article
226) or the Supreme Court (under Article 32) seeking redressal against violation of
legal or constitutional rights of persons who due to social or economic or any
other disability cannot approach the Court.

The Supreme Court in Indian Banks’ Association, Bombay & Ors. vs. M/s Devkala
Consultancy Service and Ors held :- “In an appropriate case, where the petitioner
might have moved a court in her private interest and for redressal of the personal
grievance, the court in furtherance of Public Interest may treat it a necessity to
enquire into the state of affairs of the subject of litigation in the interest of
justice.” Thus, a private interest case can also be treated as public interest
case.

Although social and economic rights given in the Indian Constitution under Part IV
are not legally enforceable, courts have creatively read these into fundamental
rights thereby making them judicially enforceable. For instance the "right to life"
in Article 21 has been expanded to include right to free legal aid, right to live
with dignity, right to education, right to work, freedom from torture, bar fetters
and hand cuffing in prisons, etc.

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