Question

Q. In the context of the “Public Interest Litigation” (PIL), consider the following statements:

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

• A.
  1 only
• B.
  2 only
• C.
  Both 1 and 2
• D.
  Neither 1 nor 2

Answer 1

The correct option is D

Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation:

PIL stands for Public Interest Litigation. PIL is also known variously as Social Action Litigation (SAL), Social Interest Litigation (SIL) and Class Action Litigation (CAL).

Statement 1 is incorrect: In India, Judicial Activism has facilitated the PIL. The seeds of the concept of public interest litigation were initially sown in India in 1976 in Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs. Abdul Thai. The first reported case of PIL was Hussainara Khatoon vs. State of Bihar (1979). In 1986, the then chief justice P.N. Bhagwati brought a new era of the PIL movement to the Indian judicial system. The idea was to give marginalised citizens access to justice, but by the mid-1990s PILs had transformed the legal landscape with a flurry of high-profile cases.

Statement 2 is incorrect: According to ‘locus standi’ rule, only that person whose rights are infringed alone can move the court for the remedies, whereas, the PIL is an exception to this traditional rule.

Under the PIL, any public-spirited citizen or an organisation can move the court for the enforcement of the rights of any person(s) who because of their poverty or ignorance or socially or economically disadvantaged position are themselves unable to approach the court for the remedies. Thus, in a PIL, any member of the public having ‘sufficient interest’ can approach the court for enforcing the rights of other persons and redressal of a common grievance.