Public Interest Litigation: Constitutional Validity And Its Misuse
- IJLLR Journal
- 22 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Sonu Priya, Shambhunath Institute of Law, Prayagaraj
1. INTRODUCTION
Lest the “golden key to unlock the doors of injustice” remain only hand of wealthy, the supreme court of India invented the idea of Public Interest Litigation, opening the doors of court to the common person. PIL is a legal mechanism that allows citizens to seek justice for social causes that affect the public interest. It empowers individuals or organizations to approach the courts on behalf of disadvantaged groups or to address broader societal issues. It emphasised that a PIL writ petition can be filed in the S.C Under Article 32 only if a question concerning the enforcement of a FR is involved Under Article 226 a writ petition can be filed in a H.C whether or not a FR is involved.
The S.C has ruled that to exercise its jurisdiction Under Article32, it is not necessary that the affected person should personally approach the court The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and proceed Suo- moto or on a petition of any person or body .
PIL has its origins in the United States during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Legal activists in America were the first to use this method to advocate for underrepresented groups such as racial minorities, environmentalists, and economically disadvantaged communities. Public interest litigation is not defined in any statute or any act. PIL is the control given to the open by courts through legal activism. PIL is a legal mechanism wherein any public-spirited citizen or social organization can approach the court for the enforcement of the rights of any person or group of persons who, due to their poverty, ignorance, or socio-economic disadvantaged position, are themselves unable to approach the court to seek remedies Thus, in a PIL, if any person having ‘sufficient interest’ can move the court to enforce the rights of other persons and redress a common grievance.
