Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

• Public Interest Litigation (PIL) means a case or petition filed before a court to protect, safeguard or enforce public interest. Public Interest means the interest or right belonging to the society, a particular class of the community or a group of people.
• PILs are filed to resolve a problem affecting the legal rights of a community or the public at large.
• PILs are filed in the courts to safeguard group interest, not individual interest. It can be filed only in the Supreme Court of India or state High Courts.
• A PIL is not defined in any law, statute or any act. It is filed before the courts under the Constitution of India to protect public rights and promote general welfare.
   

Historical Aspect of PIL

• In 1979, Kapila Hingorani filed a petition and secured the release of almost 40,000 undertrials from Patna's Jail in the famous Hussainara Khatoon case. Hingorani was a lawyer. This case was filed in the Supreme Court before a bench led by Justice PN Bhagwati.
• Hingorani is called the "Mother of PILs" as a result of this successful case. The court permitted Hingorani to pursue a case in which she had no personal locus standi, making PILs a permanent fixture in Indian jurisprudence.
• Justice Bhagwati and Justice VR Krishna Iyer were among the first Judges in the country to admit PILs.
   

Cases Regarding PIL

1. Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan: This case is related to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. As a result, the Vishaka Guidelines came into effect, published in 1997, which provided employers with the definition of sexual harassment, a list of preventative strategies, and information on filing complaints of workplace sexual harassment.
    
2. Parmanand Katara v. Union of India: This case was filed to facilitate hospitals to handle emergency cases (accidents) without concern for pending police investigations. The judgment made it obligatory for a hospital or doctor, public or private, to provide immediate medical aid to a road accident victim.