Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
"A legal mechanism allowing any public-spirited person to approach the Supreme Court or High Court to enforce constitutional and legal rights on behalf of disadvantaged groups, without the affected party needing to file the petition themselves."
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is a distinctive innovation of Indian constitutional jurisprudence that allows any public-spirited individual or organisation to invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (under Article 32) or a High Court (under Article 226) to seek enforcement of rights or public interest issues on behalf of those who cannot access justice themselves — the poor, marginalised, prisoners, bonded labourers, victims of environmental pollution, and others. The PIL concept was developed in the late 1970s and 1980s by Justices PN Bhagwati and VR Krishna Iyer, who relaxed the traditional rule of locus standi (standing to sue) — the requirement that only the directly affected party could approach the court. Locus standi was relaxed to allow representatives and even letters addressed to the court (epistolary jurisdiction) to be treated as PIL petitions. This fundamentally democratised access to justice. Landmark PIL judgments: Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979) — the first PIL, which led to the release of undertrial prisoners who had been in jail longer than the maximum sentence for their alleged offences; SP Gupta v. Union of India (1981) — established the PIL doctrine; MC Mehta v. Union of India (multiple cases, 1980s-present) — environmental PILs on Ganga pollution, Delhi vehicular emissions, Taj Mahal preservation; Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1998) — CBI's independence from political interference in the Hawala case; Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) — workplace sexual harassment guidelines. Misuse: PIL has increasingly been used for 'publicity interest litigation' — frivolous or politically motivated petitions. The Supreme Court began imposing Rs 1-25 lakh costs on frivolous PIL petitioners from the 2000s onwards to deter misuse.
Very important for UPSC GS2 Polity, GS4 Ethics, and Essay. PIL is central to judicial activism discussions. Prelims: Who developed PIL (Justices Bhagwati and Krishna Iyer); first PIL case (Hussainara Khatoon 1979); grounds for filing (Article 32 SC, Article 226 HC). Mains: PIL as an instrument of social justice vs PIL misuse; continuing mandamus; difference between PIL and ordinary writ petition (locus standi is the key distinction).
- 1 PIL: relaxed locus standi — any public-spirited person can file on behalf of disadvantaged
- 2 Developed by Justices PN Bhagwati and VR Krishna Iyer in late 1970s-1980s
- 3 Filed under Article 32 (Supreme Court) or Article 226 (High Court)
- 4 Epistolary jurisdiction: even a letter to the court can be treated as a PIL
- 5 First PIL: Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979) — undertrial prisoners' rights
- 6 MC Mehta: environmental PILs — Ganga, Delhi pollution, Taj Mahal (1980s-present)
- 7 Vishaka (1997): SC guidelines on workplace sexual harassment — classic PIL outcome
- 8 Misuse: frivolous PILs; SC imposes heavy costs on abuse of PIL jurisdiction
After a series of reports about deaths from manual scavenging, a PIL was filed before the Supreme Court by a human rights organisation. The court issued directions to the Centre and states to eliminate the practice, provide rehabilitation to former manual scavengers, and pay compensation to families of those who died — leading to amendments to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013.