Dr. Sumeet Pal Singh Brar, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab
I. INTRODUCTION
The public interest litigation means a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest in which the public or a class of the community has pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected. Public interest litigation is that where the public in general are interested in vindication of some rights or enforcement of some public duty. Such litigation has hitherto been entertained by Supreme Court under Article 32 and by high courts under Article 226 in the form of writ petitions, such writs are accepted by the courts not only from associations or organizations but also from the individuals interested in a common cause. According to Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Public Interest Litigation is a process of obtaining justice for the people, of voicing people’s grievances through the legal process. The aim of Public Interest Litigation is to give to the common people of this country access to the courts to obtain legal redress.1 Public Interest Litigation is a unique development in the history of Indian Constitutional law. It has over the years proved itself as the single most efficacious technique for the quick and efficient technique for protection of the rights of the unorganized and disadvantaged section of the society. Public interest litigation has herald a new era of judicial activism in the constitution scene. The Public Interest Litigation mainly denotes a kind of judicial technique where the other wings of the government; specifically the executive fails to carry out its committing obligation towards the general masses.
