Public interest litigation is the use of the law to advance human rights and equality, or raise issues of broad public concern. It helps advance the cause of minority or disadvantaged groups or individuals. Public interest cases may arise from both public and private law matters.PIL was started to protect the fundamental rights of people who are poor, ignorant or in socially/economically disadvantaged position.
OBJECTIVES OF PIL- The aim of PIL is to give to the common people access to the courts to obtain legal redress. PIL is an important instrument of social change and for maintaining the Rule of law and accelerating the balance between law and justice. Public Interest Litigation (PIL), means a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest in which the public or class of the community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected In simple terms, a PIL is a petition that an individual or a non-government organisation or citizen groups, can file in the court seeking justice in an issue that has a larger public interest.
- Procedure: A court fee amounting to Rs. The high court allowed the petitioner to withdraw the PIL and file an appropriate representation before Central Government. In simple terms, a PIL is a petition that an individual or a non-government organisation or citizen groups, can file in the court seeking justice in an issue that has a larger public interest. Any citizen can file a public case by filing a petition: ∙ Under Art 32 of the Indian Constitution, in the Supreme Court. ∙ Under Art 226 of the Indian Constitution, in the High Court. ∙ Under sec. 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in a magistrate’s court. Public Interest Litigation can be filed before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution or before the High Court of a State under Article 226 of the Constitution under their respective Writ Jurisdictions.
There are mainly five types of Writs – (i) Writ of Habeaus Corpus, (ii) Writ of Mandamus, (iii) Writ of Quo-Warranto, (iv) Writ of Prohibition, and (v) Writ of Certiorari.
The Supreme Court of India, pioneered the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) thereby throwing upon the portals of courts to the common man. Prior to 1980s, only the aggrieved party could personally knock the doors of justice and seek remedy for his grievance and any other person who was not personally affected could not knock the doors of justice as a proxy for the victim or the aggrieved party. In other words, only the affected parties had the locus standi (standing required in law) to file a case and continue the litigation and the non affected persons had no locus standi to do so. And as a result, there was hardly any link between the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Indian Union and the laws made by the legislature on the one hand and the vast majority of illiterate citizens on the other. However, all these scenario gradually changed when the post emergency Supreme Court tackled the problem of access to justice by people through radical changes and alterations made in the requirements of locus standi and of party aggrieved.