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“Public Interest Litigation is a gamechanger of our constitution”. Substantiate the above statement by explaining the meaning and the guidelines for admitting the PIL.

Introduction:

The concept of public interest litigation originated in the USA to provide the legal representation to the people who were earlier kept out of it. In India, the introduction of PIL can be credited to Justice V R Krishna Iyer and Justice P N Bhagavati. It is also known as, Social Action Litigation or Social Interest Litigation and Class Action Litigation.

Body:

Purpose & Meaning:

The supreme court has defined PIL as a legal action initiated in order to enforce the public interest in which there is a pecuniary interest for public or a class of the community.

Scope of PIL

• Bonded labour matters
• Neglected Children
• Atrocities on women
• Non payment of minimum wages
• Petitions from jail
• Petitions against police to register complaints
• Family pension
• Riot victims
• Environmental issues

Guidelines for PIL

• Only genuine PILs should be accepted
• Verification of petitioner’s credentials
• Substantial public interest is a must
• Priority for petitions with larger public interests
• Discouraging of petitions with ulterior motives
• Court should be satisfied regarding the correctness of the contents

Conclusion:

Thus we can say that to ensure the fundamental rights of the people, PIL are required. Any interested person can file PIL. Welfare of the people and non-denial of rights is the essence of PIL. There have been many instances where PIL have stopped the occurrence of a particular event which would caused major obstructions in lives of people.