I YEAR B.B.A LL.

B – SEMESTER-II (2022)

1ST -INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW – I

RESEARCH ARTICLE

ON

RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES: PUBLIC INTEREST

LITIGATION

NAME: APURVA RANJAN

DIVISION: A
PRN: 21010126079
COURSE: BBA LL.B. (H)
BATCH: 2021-2026
 PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION OR PUBLICITY INTEREST
LITIGATION? : CHALLENGES OF PIL

INTRODUCTION

Public Interest Litigation provides access to legal remedies for anyone seeking to defend the
rights and interests of themselves, others, or the public from being violated. It elevates the
practice of litigation from being solely a privilege of the aggrieved party to a remedy-seeking
procedure that may be extremely useful in areas of public interest. PIL is a notion that
entrusts the practice of attorneys to extremely public-spirited persons operating in the best
interests of society. It enables litigators to effect the necessary modifications through court-
ordered rulings. This is why Prof. Upendra Baxi substitutes 'Social Action Litigation' for
'Public Interest Litigation,' given its efficacy and ability to induce positive social reforms.

The notion of Public Interest Litigation changes the individual's responsibility in starting
legal procedures. It accomplishes this by increasing the number of people who have a Locus
Standi, or the right to appear in a court of justice or before a legislative body on a particular
issue. Given the high expenses and lengthy nature of the litigation procedure, PIL seems to be
an ideal countermeasure to the circumstantial prejudice that renders justice inaccessible to the
poor class.

It promotes the preservation of people's fundamental rights by allowing the aggrieved or

anyone acting in the public interest to seek the authority of High Courts or the Hon'ble
Supreme Court. It has effectively served as a protector of the public's rights and interests
countless times. Some significant PILs that have had a significant influence will be addressed
further in this study.

Being a robust and influential initiative has undoubtedly demonstrated its worth over the
years, but PIL has its downsides like any other strategy. What are these drawbacks? What
impact do they have on the current situation? How can they overcome the difficulties they
face? This article will attempt to address these questions in further depth.
 ISSUES

1. Abuse of Public Interest Litigation leading to Publicity Interest Litigation by the

Marginalized group.
2. The misuse of PIL leads to overburdening of courts with frivolous PILs by parties with
vested interests. Inordinate delays in the disposal of PIL cases may render many

leading judgments merely of academic value.

3. Cases of Judicial Overreach by the Judiciary in the process of solving socio-economic
or environmental problems can take place through the PILs.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1. To study the reason behind the delayed caused in deciding the Public Interest Litigation.
2. To analyze the reason behind the of PIL leads to overburdening of courts with frivolous
PILs.
3. To analyze the reason behind the misuse of PIL leading to Publicity Interest Litigation.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

 ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

The original idea for PIL comes from the American notion of Public Interest Litigation
and the class actions of the 1960s. In the United States of America, it is known as 'Public
Interest Law,' but in the Indian Subcontinent, it is known as 'Public Interest Litigation.'
Prof. Abram Chayes of Harvard Law School invented the phrase "public law litigation."
In litigation, it is sometimes known as "cause lawyering" or "social activism." The origins
of this practice in the United States may be traced back to the case of Brown v. Board of
Education1. Separating kids based on race in a public school was ruled unlawful by the
Court.
PIL arose alongside the rise of judicial activism in India following the end of the
emergency. The Supreme Court of India began to join in the people' war for the

1
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483
 enforcement of social and economic rights, as well as the preservation of their political
and civil liberties, in the late 1970s, i.e., immediately after the emergency period ended.
The goal of the PIL phenomenon was to increase judicial activity by bolstering the rights
of the impoverished and downtrodden through Locus Standi loosening. The goal of this
endeavor was to improve circumstances for people' rights following the political
emergency (1975-1977), during which many were robbed of their rights.
During the post-emergency trend of judicial activism, Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice
Krishna Iyer were pivotal in the formation of this phenomenon. The first PIL case in India
was Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar 2, which concerned the fate of thousands of
awaiting trial inmates.
In the case S.P. Gupta v. President of India & Others 3, widely known as the judges'
transfer case, Justice P.N. Bhagwati clarified the PIL rule. Public Interest Litigation has
now become a well-known and significant practice in the Indian court system.

 THE 3 PHASES OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

Researches demarcated the cases of PIL in three different phases.

Phase – 1: It considers the cases where guidelines, directions and order were passed by
the courts to preserve and protect the fundamental right to life of those groups of society,
who are unable to access the law courts because of poverty, illiteracy and abstinence.

Cases of Phase – 1

1. In Anil Yadav and Others v. State of Bihar 4, a petition was filed regarding the
brutal act of blinding of under-trial prisoners at Bhagalpur in the State of Bihar.
According to reports prisoners’ eyes were pierced with needles and acid was poured
into them. The courts passed orders to ensure that such monstrous acts of brutality and
inhumanity are not repeated.
2. In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal5, “the court held that custodial death is one of
the most embarrassing occurrences in our society. The rights embodied in Article 21
and Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India must protect all. The expression ‘life or

2
Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar , 1979 AIR 1369
3
S.P. Gupta v. President of India & Others, 1982 SC 149
4
Anil Yadav and Others v. State of Bihar and Bachcho Lal Das, Superintendent,
Central Jail, Bhagalpur, Bihar, (1982) 2 SCC 195
5
D.K. Basu V. State of West Bengal, (1997) 1 SCC 416
 personal liberty’ in Article 21 includes right to live with human dignity and also
includes the prevention of individuals from torture, fear and assault by the State and
its representatives. The court passed orders to follow the guidelines sincerely.”

Phase – 2: It considers the cases relating to the protection of environment, wildlife,

forest, marine life, river, historical monument, ecology, etc.

Cases of Phase – 2

1. In Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar 6, the court observed that under the panorama
of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, people also have the right to enjoyment of
pollution free air and water, which stands out to be an amelioration of society and
environment. If anything deteriorates and endangers the quality of life in abolition of
laws then a person has the right to manage an application under Article 32 of the
Constitution for removing the pollution from air and water, as it hampers the quality
of life.

Phase – 3: This phase throws light on those cases in which the courts’ direction is aimed
at maintaining proper functioning of important elements in governance i.e., reliability,
transparency and integrity.

Cases of Phase – 3

1. According to the allegation in Vineet Narain and Others v. Union of India 7, the
central investigation agencies like CBI and Revenue authorities had failed to perform
their legal duty and did not comply according to their legal obligation. During
investigation they were not performing their legal duties and they were influenced by
the politicians and bureaucrats. Then the Supreme Court issued many directions under
which the incumbent of public offices are given certain powers to use only in the
matters of public interest.

 PIL – A REFORMER IN INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

PIL plays the role of a crusader in our country and in the entire world. It can be seen as a
boon in the hands of activists and litigators who have a good motive and as a curse in the
hands of those intending to misuse it. There is an immediate need to promote the use of

6
Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar and Others, AIR 1991 SC 420
7
Vineet Narain and Others v. Union of India and Another, AIR 1998 SC 889
 PIL for desired purposes and to prevent it from those who want to either misuse it or use
it as a tool for commercial gain or publicity. PIL is a reformer for our Indian legal system
and the people of India. It gives power, authority to the people and enforces their right to
go for legal action if they find any loopholes in their milieu.

 ROAD WAY FROM PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION TO PUBLICITY

INTEREST LITIGATION

It appears that the overuse of PIL in India, which began in the 1990s, has progressed to
the point where it is undermining the different purposes for which PIL was adopted. In
other words, the dark side of the PIL project is gradually obscuring the lighter side.

In PIL, the term "public" has been replaced with "private" or "publicity."

One of the main reasons why the courts embraced PIL was its use in serving the public
interest. However, it is questionable if PIL is still committed to that purpose. As we have
seen, nearly any matter is submitted before the courts under the pretence of public interest
due to the allures that PIL jurisprudence provides (e.g. inexpensive, quick response, and
high impact). Of course, distinguishing "public" interest from "private" interest is not
always straightforward, but it is arguable that courts have not rigorously enforced the
requirement that PILs be aimed at promoting some public interest. Desai and Muralidhar
support the view that PILs are being abused by those pushing for private grievances in the
name of public interest and publicity rather than advocating for public issues.

It is crucial that courts do not allow the word "public" in PIL to be replaced with the
words "private" or "publicity" by enforcing stricter gate keeping.

PIL was incorporated into Indian law to aid in the advancement of social justice.
Unfortunately, it has instead become a weapon for people to employ in order to acquire
fame or to further their political objective.

PILs are now being utilized to propagate racism and communal hatred in the guise of
public interest. Filling frivolous lawsuits has eroded the integrity of the PIL system,
which has led in some of the most progressive judgments granted by various courts.

Irrational petitions have proliferated in large numbers in the absence of any solid system
to separate real pleas from bogus pleas known as "publicity interest" or "political interest"
 litigations. The courts throw the onus of mitigating the threat on the moral conscience of
the litigants.

Frivolous PIL filing has not only increased the burden on the judiciary, but has also
significantly eroded trust in the entire process. Even if a frivolous plea is eventually
dismissed, the judges must spend a significant amount of time going through the prayer
and, on most occasions, hearing the petitioner.

 THE DARK SIDE OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

PIL has amassed enormous momentum and popularity in the past few decades. It is easy
to ignore the ill effects and unwanted outcomes of this practice. There are many problems
that arise out of various traits of this public spirited form of lawyering which are needed
to be dealt with effectively and immediately.

Expansion in Locus Standi, which is one of the basic characteristics of PIL many a times
acts as the cause of mala fide proceedings. The Supreme Court has recently criticized the
practice of filing PIL for the sake of publicity or other ill motives. The statement
highlighted the fact that a substantial amount of resources in terms of judicial time and
efforts are spent on such cases.

With PIL flourishing rapidly, there is a chance that judiciary might overdo the practice of
interfering with legislature and executive. The threat of judicial activism turning into
judicial adventurism daunts the Indian legal system in present times.

Moreover, PIL if not used in the right way, adds up to the already existing burden on
Indian judiciary which has not yet been able to struggle its way out of the tremendous
backlog of pending cases. As accepted by the Supreme Court, PIL petitions eat up a
considerable amount of judicial time. This practice of delay and adding up of unnecessary
burden strangulates the judicial system in the shackles of backlog of pending work.

 PRESENT SYSTEM OF CHECKS

Under the present system, only judges have the power to decide if a petition should be
admitted or dismissed while the job of the Registry (of the SC or of any high court) is to
ensure that technical requirements of filing a petition have been fulfilled by the litigant.
 Petition gets listed for admission irrespective of its merit, eating away the court’s time
that could otherwise be utilized to hear the massive backlog of cases.

CONCLUSION

The profession of Public Interest Litigation has enormous potential. This potential may be
harnessed for both constructive and harmful causes. When used in a real public spirit for
social litigation, PIL has shown to be a successful and useful instrument. This is obvious in
many of the aforementioned cases, which demonstrate the effectiveness and power of such a
legal technique.

The determination of whether or not a topic falls under the purview of PIL is critical. The PIL
cell must treat it with the utmost care. In a nation like India, where there is already a massive
backlog of ongoing cases, it is not feasible, both in terms of time and money, to add frivolous
matters like PILs to the load. The Indian PIL experience also demonstrates the need of
ensuring that PILs do not become a backdoor into the temple of justice in order to serve
commercial objectives, settle political grudges, or just acquire easy attention. Courts should
also not utilize PIL as a tool to rule the country on a daily basis or to intrude into the
legitimate domains of the executive and legislative. Intentions must be identified and dealt
with by the Courts as soon as practicable. The PIL cell should be well-equipped and effective
in determining the strength of a case in its early phases. This will save our justice system a
significant amount of time and money.

It is also critical that, in the name of PIL, judicial activism does not overstep its bounds by
interfering with the legislative and executive functions. Interference by the court should be
limited to a last option in order for the government to run smoothly and effectively.

Overall, Public Interest Litigation is an excellent weapon for enforcing the rights of those
who are deprived or poor and want justice. It should be done with caution and regard for the
resources it uses.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 BOOKS
 [Dr. J. N. Pandey], [Constitutional Law of India], [Chapter17, Right to Constitutional
Remedies], [(Central Law Agency, 2021)]
 [Mahendra Pal Singh], [V. N. Shukla’s Constitution of India], [Right to
Constitutional Remedies ], [(Eastern Book Company, 2017)]

 INTERNET SOURCES
 https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-news-editorials/pils-from-public-interest-to-
publicity-interest-litigations
 https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-gavel-on-the-duds/301330
 http://www.manupatra.com/roundup/379/Articles/Public%20Interest
%20Litigation.pdf