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Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India
Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India
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Journal of the Indian Law Institute
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172
Parmanand Singh *
I Introduction
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 173
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174 Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 52 : 2
to social and economic justice. Earlier, PIL cases offered a new paradigm
of human rights and created a new people oriented profile of judicia
power. Voiceless and powerless people were emancipated from
exploitation, brutalities and oppressions on the initiatives of others.
PIL movements also promoted respect for social and economic rights.
In PUCL v. Union of India ,5 the Supreme Court not merely issued directions
for the implementation of centrally sponsored poverty alleviation
programme but went to the extent of appointing an expert committee to
monitor the compliance of court orders within fixed time frame. In this
petition, right to food was for the first time articulated as a guaranteed
fundamental right. The court expressed its deep anguish about the
increasing number of starvation deaths and complete breakdown of the
system of food security despite overflowing food stock in the country.
The court's order made food distribution scheme into entitlements without
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2010] Promises and Penis of Public Interest Litigation in India 175
accepting the plea of lack of resources.6 The activism of the court has
made it clear that social rights can be the subject matter of adjudication
and determination and enforceable by the court of law.
In a series of cases, the Supreme Court has addressed the issue of
health care as a fundamental right and has imposed an obligation upon
the state not only to provide emergency medical care but also to take all
steps to create conditions necessary for good health, including facilities
for basic curative and preventive health services. In doing so, the court
has derived support from certain directive principles of state policy under
the Constitution. In enforcing right to health, the Supreme Court has
rejected the argument based on lack of financial resources. The court
reasoned that even negative rights require economic resources. In Paschim
Banga,7 the court held : "In the context of the constitutional obligation to
provide free legal aid to a poor accused this court has held that the State
cannot avoid its constitutional obligation in that regard on account of
financial constraints. The said observation would apply with equal, if not
greater, force in the matter of discharge of constitutional obligation of
the State to provide medical aid to preserve human life."
The judicial activism in the phase of PIL movement had also
recognized right to primary education as an aspect of right to life.8 The
directive principle relating to right to education in article 45 has now
become a fundamental right after a long struggle of the child right activists,
educationists and social activists espousing the right to education, leading
to an amendment in the Constitution in 2002 inserting article 21 A in the
Constitution declaring right to primary education for children up to the
age of 14 years as a fundamental right. The right to elementary education
has become a reality by the Right to Free and Compulsory Education
Act, 2009.9 Now it is a legally enforceable duty of the centre and the
states to provide free and compulsory education to children from six to
fourteen years. The Act provides for 25 per cent reservation in private
6. The proposed Food Security Bill 2009 seeks to provide a statutory basis of
right to food as it creates special entitlements of foodgrains up to 25 kg at a
subsidized rate of Rs 3.50 per kg.
7. Paschim Banga Khet Majoor S amity v. State of West Bengal (1996) 4 SCC 37 at 48;
also see Vincent Panikurlangara v. Union of India (1987) 2 SCC 165; Murli S Deora v.
Union of India (2001) 8 SCC 765; 'X v. Hospital 'Z' (2003) 1 SCC 500; Parmanand
Katara v. Union of India (1989) 4 SCC 286.
8. Unni Krishnan v. State of A.P. (1993) 1 SCC 645.
9. The Act came into force from April 1, 2010.
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176 journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 177
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178 Journal of the Indian Ław Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 179
In Olga Tellis ,35 the Supreme Court held that no one has the righ
make use of public property for private use without requisite authoriz
and, therefore, it is erroneous to contend that pavement and slum dw
have a right to encroach upon pavements by constructing dwell
thereon. If a person puts up a dwelling on the pavement, whateve
be the economic compulsion behind such an act, his use of pave
would become unauthorized. In Almitra Patel v. Union of India ,3
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180 Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 181
J expressed the view that the right to strike was an integral part of collective
bargaining. The same was the approach of Ahmadi J in B.K Singh v. Union of India
(1990) Lab IC 389, 396 (SC).
41. (2000) 10 SCC 664.
42. In a strong dissenting judgment, Bharucha J took the stand that Sardar
Sarovar Project was proceeding without a comprehensive environmental appraisal
and without necessary environmental impact studies.
43. Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India, AIR 2005 SC 2994. On March 17,
2006, Medha Patkar sat on fast unto death for stopping further raising of the dam
which affected 35000 families until those displaced by submergence by raising the
dam were properly rehabilitated. See The Hindu, March 26, 2006 .
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182 Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 52 : 2
VII Conclusion
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 183
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184 Journal of the Indian Ław Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 185
Balco,61 the Supreme Court ruled that no stay order should be gra
with respect to public projects or schemes or economic policies. A pers
cannot by way of PIL challenge illegalities, perversions and corrup
committed by the executive in the implementation of such policies un
he/she was personally aggrieved by such economic or developme
measures.62 The Supreme Court has virtually struck a deathblow t
in cases involving economic reforms or developmental projects. In Balc
the court imposed a liability of reimbursement on the PIL petition
the event of the petition challenging a development scheme or measur
of economic reform was dismissed. If a petitioner is asked to reim
or give a bank guarantee or an undertaking that he will make good
loss that may occur to the parties in case the PIL is dismissed, in r
no interim injunction will ever be granted in PIL cases as the PIL petitio
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186 Journal of the Indian Ław Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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2010] Promises and Perils of Public Interest Litigation in India 187
individuals and groups who are not in a position to approach the court
for vindication of their legitimate human rights due to their disadvantaged
position. Many PIL cases lack a lis or dispute to be adjudicated by a
court as a neutral empire as in the adversarial litigation. In PIL, the court
normally acts as an investigator, a mediator, a counselor, or a collaborator.
PIL requires a judge to play an active role in providing immediate relief
to the victims of human rights violations by relaxing procedural
technicalities and by exempting the petitioner to prove the alleged facts
which are investigated by the court itself. If all these characteristics are
not present simultaneously, the matter cannot legitimately be called a PIL.
But unfortunately the judges have not resisted their temptation to treat
any and every matter as a PIL even if such a matter is not even remotely
connected with human rights. The result is that over the years, the courts
have emerged as institutions of governance through the device of PIL. In
this author's view, the norms for entertaining a PIL should be laid down
so as to eliminate the subjective choices of the judges to entertain any
thing under the sun as a PIL. As has been stated above, PIL should be
limited only to vindicate the rights of the victims of governmental
lawlessness and social oppression. Issues involving political governance,
or misrule or arbitrary exercise of power and so on are also important
but they should still be handled within the traditional mould of litigation.
Such cases need not borrow the nomenclature of PIL
It may be concluded that judicial activism and PIL will not automatically
achieve the goal of social empowerment. It is important to investigate
how far the judicial initiatives have been effective in providing symbols
for rallying victimized or exploited groups before the courts and other
forums? How far the awareness of the new dispensation is accompanied
by enhanced capabilities of the dispossessed groups to make a sustained
and effective use of legal resources to combat governmental lawlessness?
How far the judicial initiatives have been able to promote drive for
wider legislative changes or law reform or for launching people's
movement to force the government to be responsive to judicial prodding?
It must be recognized that PIL emphasizes litigation as a means of socia
change and thus enhances the dependency of the victim groups on the
social activists. Perhaps, it does not generate any effective participation of
those groups who remain passive depending upon the efforts of others
PIL strategy is largely controlled by the elites who utilize the legal resources
according to their own priorities and choices.
The impact of PIL decisions is hard to measure and requires serious
social research. The effectiveness of judicial decisions are powerfully
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188 Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 52 : 2
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