Dessertation On "Public Interest Litigation": Amity Law School Amity University Uttar Pradesh

DESSERTATION ON
“PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION”
NAME =SAYMA KHATOON
ENROLLMENT NO= A8101817090
LL.M 2ND SEMESTER
AMITY LAW SCHOOL

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
SYNOPSIS
ON
“PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION”

Introduction and General Overview:
Public Interest Litigation or Social Interest Litigation
The emergence of Public Interest Litigation has recognized that the right to
elective 'access to justice' is the most basic and fundamental human right in
the welfare state which guarantees social rights. For the enjoyment of the
traditional legal right as well as the new social rights this tool pre-supposes
the mechanisms for their elective protection and the traditional conception of
adjudication. Moreover the assumptions on which it is based are proving to be
inadequate for the operation of the Public Interest Litigation. Consequently,
the courts have liberalized the standard of locus standi to meet the challenges
of the time. In Indian law, PIL means litigation for the protection of public
interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law not by the aggrieved party
but by the court itself or by any other private party. It is not necessary for the
exercise of the court's jurisdiction, that the person who is the victim of the
violation of his or her right should personally approach the court. Public
Interest Litigation empowers the public promoting judicial activism. Such
cases may occur when the victim does not have the necessary resources to
commence litigation or his freedom to move court has been suppressed or
encroached upon. The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and
precede suo motu or cases can commence on the petition of any public-
spirited individual.
"PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION"
In simple words, it means litigation filed in a court of law, for the protection of
"Public Interest", such as those against pollution, terrorism, constructional
hazards or those for road safety etc. Public interest litigation is not defined in
any statute or in any act. It has been interpreted by judges considering the
interest of public at large. Although, the main and only focus of such litigation
is "Public Interest", there are various areas where Public interest litigation can
be filed. For e.g. - Violation of basic human rights of the poor -Content or
conduct of government policy - Compel municipal authorities to perform a
public duty. - Violation of religious rights or other basic fundamental rights.
Scope of PIL or SIL:
The traditional rule of locus standi insists that judicial redress is available
only to a person who has suffered a legal injury by reason of violation of his
legal right. The rule postulates the competency of a person to maintain a suit
or application. According to this rule, a person who has suffered a specific
legal injury by reason of violation of his legal right, actual or threatened, can
bring an action for judicial redress and third party cannot be permitted to
have access to the Court for the purpose of seeking redress on behalf of the
person injured. In the strict sense, the rule indicates that to invoke the
extraordinary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32, the
petitioner must show infringement, actual or threatened of fundamental right
available to him. In other words the petitioner cannot be permitted to move
the Supreme Court for the purpose of seeking enforcement of fundamental
right of the other person. But the Courts in India have evolved few exceptions
to this narrow and rigid rule of locus standi. This rule is relaxed and modified
by the Courts in India in the cases of writs like habeas corpus and quo
warranto. The rule of locus standi was also diluted by the Supreme Court in
the cases of new branch of proceedings under Articles 32 and Article 226
known as public interest litigation. This jurisdiction conferred on the Supreme
Court by Article 32 is an important and integral part of the basic structure of
the Constitution. The essence is the fundamental rights may become
meaningless without providing an effective remedy for their enforcement. The
proceedings of public interest litigation or social action litigation attempts to
provide an adequate and effective remedy for the enforcement of the
fundamental rights.
OBJECTIVES OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION:

According to Justice Krishna Iyer, Public Interest Litigation is a process of
obtaining justice for the people, of voicing people's grievances through the
legal process. The aim of PIL is to give to the common people of this country,
access to the courts so as to seek legal redress.
The concept of Public Interest Litigation’ is one of the most important
innovations in the Indian judicial process. It emerged in the late seventies of
the twentieth century in response to the need to make judicial process more
accessible to poor, downtrodden, socially and economically disadvantaged
sections of the society. It is primarily the judges of the higher judiciary who
have innovated upon the concept of public interest litigation through judicial
activism while exercising the jurisdiction for dispensing justice to the poor
and downtrodden.
SIGNIFICANCE OF DOCTRINE OF PUBLIC INTEREST

LITIGATION AS WHOLE:
A Public interest lawyer is often asked a very difficult question: Why do you
think you have a monopoly on deciding what is in the Public Interest‘?
Intellectual efforts to define the Public interest’ have universally failed. Being
a vague and flexible concept, it includes all the interests of the society; it
changes, as society changes, according to time and place.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
1. Analysing the existing situation of right to elective 'access to justice' in

today’s society.
2. Study of the existing implementation of the Doctrine of Social Interest
Litigation or Public Interest Litigation.
METHODOLOGY
This study is doctrinal but the analysis of the existing situation.
Admittedly most of these studies on research methods for law are targeted
exclusively at ‘black-letter law’ rather than non-traditional, interdisciplinary
research projects. These studies are able to equip students with basic research
skills including the knowledge of the sources of legal authority, locating cases
and statutes, the use of indexes and citations, and the use of computer
information retrieval systems such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.
RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY

This topic is relevant to the present social and public interest of humans and
society because this topic is very important to study where we are going to
analyse the present situation of our country. Public interest litigation is not
defined in any statute or in any act. It has been interpreted by judges to
consider the intent of public at large. Therefore this topic has to be studied
and analysed because it is relevant to the present situation of our country.
Name =Sayma Khatoon
Enrollment No= A8101817090
LL.M 2nd semester
Amity University Lucknow

Dessertation On "Public Interest Litigation": Amity Law School Amity University Uttar Pradesh

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dessertation On "Public Interest Litigation": Amity Law School Amity University Uttar Pradesh

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

DESSERTATION ON

“PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION”

NAME =SAYMA KHATOON

ENROLLMENT NO= A8101817090

LL.M 2ND SEMESTER

AMITY LAW SCHOOL

“PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION”

"PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION"

OBJECTIVES OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION:

SIGNIFICANCE OF DOCTRINE OF PUBLIC INTEREST

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE STUDY

1. Analysing the existing situation of right to elective 'access to justice' in

This study is doctrinal but the analysis of the existing situation.

RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY

Name =Sayma Khatoon

Enrollment No= A8101817090

LL.M 2nd semester

Amity University Lucknow

You might also like