Page 12 - DCOM207_LABOUR_LAWS

Unit 1: Philosophy of Labour Laws

It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or Notes
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 is the power given to the public by courts through 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.

Notes The Supreme Court in S.P. Gupta v. Union of India, popularly known as
the Transfer of Judges case AIR 1982 SC 149 formulated the principle of public interest
litigation in the following words:
“Where a legal wrong or a legal injury is caused to a person or to a determinate class
of persons by reason of violation of any constitutional or legal right or any burden is
imposed in contravention of any constitutional or legal provision or without authority
of law or any such legal wrong or legal injury or illegal burden is threatened and such
person or determinate class of persons is by reason of poverty, helplessness or disability or
economically disadvantaged position, unable to approach the Court for relief, any member
of the public can maintain an application for an appropriate direction or writ or order.”

In People’s Union for Democratic Rights v Union of India (1982) 2 L.L.J 454 popularly known as
Asiad case the Court found the view, which held that public interest litigation unnecessarily clog
the dockets of the Court and add to the already staggering arrears of cases pending for years and
should be discouraged, to be totally perverse, smacking of an elitist and status quo approach.
On the contrary, the Court found that the doors of the courts were open for vindicating the right
of the wealthy and the affluent and held that those who have decried public interest litigation
did not seem to realise that courts were not meant only for the rich and the well-to-do, for the
landlord and the gentry, for the business magnate and the industrial tycoon, but they existed also
for the poor and the downtrodden. The Court accordingly treated the letter written to a judge to
be a writ petition.
PIL represents the first attempt by a developing common law country to break away from legal
imperialism perpetuated for centuries. It contests the assumption that the most western the law,
the better it must work for economic and social development such law produced in developing
states, including India, was the development of under develop men. The shift from legal
centralism to legal pluralism was prompted by the disillusionment with formal legal system.
In India, however instead of seeking to evolve justice- dispensing mechanism ousted the formal
legal system itself through PIL. The change as we have seen, are both substantial and structural.
It has radically altered the traditional judicial role so as to enable the court to bring justice within
the reach of the common man. Further, it is humbly submitted that PIL is still is in experimental
stage. Many deficiencies in handling the kind of litigation are likely to come on the front. But these
deficiencies can be removed by innovating better techniques. In essence, the PIL develops a new
jurisprudence of the accountability of the state for constitutional and legal violations adversely
affecting the interests of the weaker elements in the community. We may end with the hope once
expressed by Justice Krishna Iyer, “The judicial activism gets its highest bonus when its orders
wipe some tears from some eyes”.
!

Caution 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. Although, the main and
only focus of such litigation is only “Public Interest” there are various areas where a Public
Interest Litigation can be filed.

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