21/03/2018
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in India …………… Public interest litigation is litigation for the protection of the public interest. A PIL may be introduced in a court of law by the court itself (suo motu), rather than the aggrieved party or another third party. For the exercise of the court's jurisdiction, it is not necessary for the victim of the violation of his or her rights to personally approach the court. In a PIL, the right to file suit is given to a member of the public through judicial activism. The member of the public may be a non-governmental organization (NGO), an institution or an individual.
Before the 1980s, only the aggrieved party could approach the courts for justice. After the emergency era the court reached out to the people, devising a means for any person of the public (or an NGO) to approach the court seeking legal remedy in cases where the public interest is at stake.
The concept of public interest litigation (PIL) is in consonance with the principles enshrined in Article 39-A, of the Constitution of India to protect and deliver prompt social justice with the help of law. Justice P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer were among the first judges to admit PILs in court, in the case of SP Gupta v/s Union of India.