Answer:

Public interest litigation means any litigation conducted for the benefit of public or for the removal of some public grievance. Any public spirited person can move the court for public cause by filing a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution or in the High Court under Article 226 of the constitution or before the Court of Magistrate under sec.133 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 . The traditional requirement of ‘locus standi’ is relaxed in PIL.

To achieve justice in the society, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has proved to be a useful tool. It provides a means to justice to disadvantaged sections of society and enables civil society to not only spread awareness about human rights and also allows them to participate in government decision making.

♤ The most important contribution of PIL has been to bring courts closer to the disadvantaged sections of society such as prisoners, destitute, child or bonded labourers, women, and scheduled castes/tribes.

♤ As Directive Principles are not justiciable, the courts imported some of these principles into the FRs thus making various socio-economic rights as important—at least in theory—as civil and political rights. This resulted in the legal recognition of rights as important as education, health, livelihood, pollution-free environment, privacy and speedy trial.

♤ PIL is also an instrument to promote rule of law, demand fairness and transparency, fight corruption in administration, and enhance the overall accountability of the government agencies.

♤ Through PIL, judiciary also triggered legislative reforms and filled in legislative gaps in important areas. For instance, the Supreme Court in the Vishaka case laid down detailed guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace.

♤ The Indian judiciary, courtesy of PIL, has helped in ensuring the reservation of seats for SCs/STs and other backwards classes in employment or educational institutions.

Ulterior purpose: While PIL has proved to be a useful tool for the marginalized disadvantaged groups, it is being misused by people agitating for private grievances in the grab of public interest and seeking publicity rather than espousing public causes.

Almost any issue is presented to the courts in the guise of public interest because of the allurements that the PIL jurisprudence offers (e.g. inexpensive, quick response, and high impact). Frivolous PIL plaintiffs waste the time and energy of the courts, the judiciary and add to the burden of increasing backlog.

Although the Supreme Court has compiled a set of ‘‘Guidelines to be Followed for Entertaining Letters/Petitions Received by it as PIL’’ it is critical to ensure that PIL does not become a back-door to enter the courts to fulfill private interests, settle political scores or simply to gain easy publicity.

PIL enables civil society to play an active role in spreading social awareness about human rights, in providing voice to the marginalised sections of society, and in allowing their participation in government decision making. If civil society and disadvantaged groups lose faith in the efficacy of PIL, that would sound a death knell for it.