Public Interest Litigation

Public interest litigation, commonly known as the PIL, implies litigation to protect the interest of the common people in the country. In case there is a matter in which the interests of the public are harmed at a large scale, public interest litigation can be filed and readdressed in the court of law. Some such common matters are related to road safety, pollution, constructional hazard, terrorism, etc. 

This Indian polity study material talks about public interest litigation in India and detailed information on the public interest litigation concept, the historical background of public interest litigation, use cases of PIL, and so on. 

Concept of Public Interest Litigation 

In simple words, the public interest litigation or the PIL is a law initiated to protect and promote the rights of human beings and raise matters of public concern in large groups. This right has been borrowed from the American jurisprudence, which was established to protect the less privileged sections of the society, the unorganised consumers, racial minorities, and citizens who love the environment. 

Although this law is not present in any statute or act, it is still in use. It broadens the appeal in court or right to file a lawsuit. The major objective behind the public interest litigation is defending the rights of the ones who cannot travel to the court to fight for themselves on their own. Generally, the victim seeks justice from the court; any other person can submit the complaint and appeal for justice in certain cases. 

Historical Background of Public Interest Litigation 

In 1976, public interest litigation first came into the picture, and Justice Krishna Iyer brought it to the limelight in Mumbai Kamgar Sabha vs Abdul Thai. In 1979, the first-ever PIL was reported: Hussainara Khatoon vs the State of Bihar. It mainly focused on the bad condition of prisons leading to hazardous diseases and even the deaths of several prisoners. Another case, S.P. Gupta vs The Union of India was marked as the revolution of the PIL movement. 

Procedure to File Public Interest Litigation 

PIL is unlike other acts as it was never introduced by any aggrieved party, and it was introduced in the court itself. Any organisation or citizen who feels that their rights have been violated can file the public interest litigation. 

• In the High Courts under Article 226
• In the Supreme Court, under Article 32

In this case, a simple letter can be treated as a written petition, and actions can be taken accordingly. But before that, the court needs to be 100% satisfied with the case. 

Cases of Public Interest Litigation 

The PILs in India are mostly concerned with topics like prisoner’s road safety, rights, environment, etc. Here are the public interest litigation filed cases:

• Issues related to the governance along with the working of public bodies including union, state and local.
• Violation of the fundamental human rights of the less privileged people. 
• Content and conduct of the government and its policymaking.
• The issues related to culture and heritage.
• Public importance matters. 
• Violation of women’s rights.
• Labour exploitation issues.
• Religion and Caste issues.
• Environmental issues.

Importance of Public Interest Litigation  

The primary objective of public interest litigation is to make justice easily accessible to the less privileged or people under the poverty line. Here, we have listed some of the significant importance of public interest litigation. 

• Public interest litigation makes human rights easily accessible to the ones who have been deprived of them. 
• It provides democracy to all. Any organisation or individual that feels that someone’s rights are violated can file a petition for those who don’t have the means to do it. 
• It helps monitor the state institutions such as protective homes, prisons, asylums, etc.
• Reviewing the judicial system is an important tool.

Conclusion 

The preamble wished for a free India to protect social, economic, and political fairness. Public interest litigation or the PIL is a law initiated to preserve and promote human rights and raise matters of public concern in large groups. Generally, the victim seeks justice from the court; any other person can submit the complaint and appeal for justice in certain cases.

In this article, we described public interest litigation; we studied public interest litigation at length. We covered several other topics, such as public interest litigation, cases of PIL, procedure to file the PIL, importance of PIL, and other related topics in detail.