PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL)

Meaning and Concept
• PIL is a legal action filed in a court for the enforcement of public interest or general interest where the public or a class of the community has a stake.  
• Product of judicial activism initiated by Supreme Court judges Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati in 1980.  
• Also known as Social Action Litigation (SAL), Social Interest Litigation (SIL) and Class Action Litigation (CAL).  
• Any public‑spirited citizen or organisation can move the court on behalf of disadvantaged persons unable to approach the court themselves.  
• Necessary for maintaining rule of law, ensuring justice, and achieving constitutional goals.

Key Features of PIL
• Strategic arm of the legal aid movement meant to ensure justice reaches the poor and marginalised.  
• Differs from traditional litigation which is adversarial; PIL is cooperative involving petitioner, State and Court.  
• Focuses on public injury, public duty, and collective social rights rather than individual disputes.  
• Court plays a more active and creative role.  
• Court adopts flexible procedures, often treating letters or telegrams as petitions.  
• No determination of purely individual rights; issues must have wider public importance.

Scope of PIL
• Bonded labour and forced labour issues.  
• Rights and welfare of neglected children.  
• Non-payment of minimum wages and exploitation of workers.  
• Complaints from jail inmates—harassment, premature release, death in jail, speedy trial.  
• Police atrocities—refusal to register FIR, custodial deaths, harassment.  
• Atrocities against women—dowry deaths, rape, harassment.  
• Harassment of weaker sections—SCs, STs, backward classes.  
• Environmental issues and ecological balance—pollution, forests, wildlife, heritage protection.  
• Issues relating to drugs, food adulteration, public health.  
• Riot victims, family pension disputes, and other broad social concerns.

Cases Not Entertained as PIL
• Landlord–tenant disputes.  
• Service matters, pension and gratuity issues.  
• Complaints against government departments or local bodies not involving public interest.  
• Admission to educational institutions.  
• Requests for early hearing of pending cases.

Principles Governing PIL
• Supreme Court (Article 32) and High Courts (Article 226) may entertain PIL on issues of public importance.  
• Courts relax procedural rules and locus standi (any person with sufficient interest can file).  
• Courts may use Articles 14 and 21 to address injustice affecting large groups.  
• Courts may appoint commissions to investigate facts.  
• Purely private disputes cannot be converted into PIL.  
• Court may inquire into wider issues of public interest even when petitioner filed for personal grievance.  
• Courts do not interfere in policy matters unless arbitrary or unconstitutional.  
• High Courts cannot use powers equivalent to Article 142.  
• High Courts should avoid PILs challenging constitutionality of statutes; these must be filed by affected parties.

Significance of PIL
• Strengthens judicial review.  
• Provides voice to the marginalised.  
• Promotes accountability of government authorities.  
• Expands access to justice and realises fundamental rights.
 

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Subject: Polity

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