1. Public Litigation System- Bane Or
Boon?
-Bhawani Sahoo

2. What is PIL?
• Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was a revolutionary innovation
which attempted to ensure implementation of rescue
programs, framed for the benefit of the needy.
• The judicial scenario in India changed during the 1980s when
the Supreme Court allowed anybody with sufficient public
interest to approach the court and request to enforce any
public right or welfare scheme.
• It also compelled the government and its authorities to
perform their task.
• This litigation can be filed in the Supreme Court, under Article
32 of the Constitution or in the High Court under Article 226.

3. Is PIL really working for the good?
• It is the most inexpensive legal remedy because of the
nominal fixed court fee.
• It is framed to protect their basic human rights.
• But, in actual practice there is a twist in the role played by PIL
in India.
• There has been criticism regarding the overacting and
overstepping in the name of PIL; it has been noticed that the
process is being misused by political opponents and publicity
hunters.
• Millions of regular cases are pending in courts for years and
decades and corruption is prevalent in the courts as well.

4. • From the PIL’s hyped beginning as “the savior of the poor and
exploited”, it has moved in a completely different direction.
• Today, slum demolition is being directed on orders from the
courts.
• A similar trend was reflected in the case of shifting heavy
industries out of Delhi where the court heard public interest
litigant MC Mehta, the owner of the factory and denied the
opportunity to be heard to the workers whose right to life
and livelihood was going to be affected by the decision.

5. PIL’s limitations
• PILs have various limitations which include petitioners having
no legal right to compel the government to appoint a
commission of enquiry.
• CBI enquiries are not possible and only legal litigation
subjected to personal grievances is allowed.

6. Justice needs to be served
• Today, in an era of coalition politics with an unstable
Centre, and the eroded credibility of the legislature and the
executive, the judiciary has taken centre stage.
• But it is time to put the genie back into its bottle and confine
public interest jurisdiction to its original purpose of being the
sole representatives of the poor and the exploited.
• For this purpose, a set of guidelines must be set to sustain
juridical equity and transparency and also to make
accountability obligatory for the judges.
• As it is said, that do not condemn the orchard due to some
rotten apples, similarly all in all, there is a good lot who do
command the country’s confidence.

7. • Read detailed report on Public Litigation System- Bane Or
Boon? On http://bit.ly/LnKgPn