What is Public Interest Litigation (PIL)?

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Today, I will talk about the case of Esteem Properties Pvt. Ltd. v. Chetan Kamble & Others, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 246, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court discussed the concept and the importance of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in India.

 

MEANING

 

Basically, Public Interest Litigation is an effort to provide legal representation to groups and interests that have been unrepresented or under-represented in the legal process. It is different from traditional or adversarial litigation that acts simply as a means of settling disputes between different parties, mostly private in nature.

 

Most of the High Courts and the Supreme Court have devised their own procedure of dealing with Public Interest Litigations. These Public Interest Litigations are generally dealt with under Article 32 and Article 136 of the Constitution of India by the Supreme Court and under Article 226 of the Constitution by the High Courts. It is also pertinent to note that Public Interest Litigations cannot be filed before the District Courts or other lower courts since they are not vested with such extraordinary jurisdiction that enables them to deal with causes of public importance.

 

LOCUS STANDI

 

Another special feature of a Public Interest Litigation is that anybody could file it before the Court and the concept of locus standi stands slightly diluted in the case of PILs. It is not required that only the person affected needs to file a Public Interest Litigation. A different person who has the knowledge of the cause of action and is public spirited, can also file Public Interest Litigations on behalf of disadvantaged or interest groups. Normally, PILs have had a beneficial effect on the Indian jurisprudence and has alleviated the conditions of the citizens in general.

 

IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER

 

In the case at hand, the Hon’ble Court discussed the following directions that are important to be followed while deciding Public Interest Litigations: -

 

a. Genuine and bona fide PILs must be encouraged and PILs filed with ulterior or frivolous motives must be discouraged by imposing costs.

 

b. All the High Courts must have their own respective procedure to deal with the PILs.

 

c. Credentials of the person filing the PIL must be verified by the Court.

 

d. The pleadings made in the PIL must be correct and true involving substantial or larger public interest.

 

e. There should be no personal gain or private or oblique motive behind filing a PIL.

 

f. When an issue involved in a PIL requires grave and urgent attention, it must be given priority over other Petitions. And

 

g. Private disputes must not be raised, or personal scores must not be settled, in the garb of a Public Interest Litigation.

 

Thus, I hope that the basic concept and nature of the Public Interest Litigations in India is clear by now.