Public Interest Litigation/Supreme Court

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PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION+
by *

Cite as : (2005) 5 SCC (J) 1

Herein I would like to share some of my thoughts on filing of false and frivolous public interest litigation.

The concept of public interest litigation as against the rule of locus was evolved by our courts in the 1980s to help the weaker sections of society, who due to their poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, were not able to assert their rights. Justice Krishna Iyer in Fertilser Kamgar Union1 made a forceful plea that the "law should not be a closed shop", else "the system may crumble under the burden of its own insensitivity". Thereafter in S.P. Gupta2 (commonly called the first Judges case) and in Bandhua Mukti Morcha3, Justice Bhagwati evolved the concept of "public injury" and allowed a public spirited citizen to approach the court for redressal of public injury relating to environment, human rights, administration of justice, arbitrary action of the executive, investigation of cases involving persons occupying high-public offices, etc. Recently, during the trade fair at Pragati Maidan, we did not have traffic and parking problem due to an order in a PIL allowing only the cars of the Supreme Court lawyers and the employees of ISIL and ILI to be parked on Bhagwandas Road.

Of late, however, the number of motivated public interest petitions are out numbering those filed to serve public interest. Thus, PIL has also been termed as "publicity interest litigation", "private interest litigation", "politics interest litigation", and even "paisa income litigation" by Justice Pasayat in M.C. Bhandari Memorial Lecture4 at Jodhpur in August 2001, and thereafter in Ashok Kumar Pandey5 and Dr. B. Singh6

The question, therefore, is how to check the filing of false and frivolous public interest litigation so that the courts can pay more attention to the genuine PILs and render justice to the oppressed and deprived section of society. The primary reason, according to me, is that this field is wholly unregulated since there is no codified law even for the exercise of writ jurisdiction. Over last five decades, courts have evolved basic principles on which writ jurisdiction is exercised but nothing has been laid down as to the filing of PIL.

According to me, a suitable format must be prescribed for filing of public interest petitions. So, I am placing before you and before the Supreme Court for consideration, a draft of such format, meant to avoid or minimise filing of PIL for getting publicity or to serve private or political interest or as a tool of making income.

In the beginning it should be clearly mentioned that the petition is a public interest petition following which the word PIL must come in bracket. Thereafter the petition must be described as In Re: followed by the particular subject for which the petition is filed, such as In Re: Taj Corridor, In Re: Public Transport on CNG, etc. The judgment and order must not indicate the cause title often used for gaining publicity.

The first para should state that the petition is being filed by way of public interest litigation without any personal interest. It should also specify the personal interest, if any, and the class of persons for whose benefit the petition is being filed.

Thereafter, the petitioner must state his/her short background, the names of the office-bearers where petitioner is an organisation, details of any other PIL filed, with case number, court, status and brief description of the order passed and cost, if any, awarded or imposed for or against the petitioner. These particulars are necessary to know the background of the petitioner and to ascertain whether the petition is being filed pro bono publico or to further any private or political interest.

The petition must contain specific averment that the petitioner is filing on his own and not at the instance of someone else; and that the litigation cost, including the advocate's fee and the travelling expenses of the lawyer, if any, is borne by the petitioner himself. If someone else is contributing funds or assisting in any manner, the petitioner must disclose the same. This would control, to some extent, that category of PIL which comes in the ambit of "paisa income litigation".

Thereafter, the facts of the case may be narrated in chronological order. If the petition is based on news report, it must be stated as to whether the petitioner has verified the facts by personally visiting the place or by talking to the people concerned or has verified from the reporter or editor of the newspaper concerned.

Also, before filing a PIL, the petitioner must send a representation to the authorities concerned for taking remedial action, akin to what is postulated in Section 80 CPC. Details of such representation and reply, if any, from the authority concerned along with copies thereof must be filed. However, in urgent cases where making of representation and waiting for response would cause irreparable damage, petitions can be filed straightaway by giving prior notice of filing to the authorities concerned and/or their standing counsel, if any.

The constitutional or statutory provision or administrative instruction which has been violated, the grounds for grant of interim relief and the nature of urgency involved must be mentioned along with a precise prayer clause.

These guidelines, according to me, would provide broad framework, of a public interest petition.

A question may arise, as to why such a detailed format is necessary for filing a PIL when the Supreme Court has said that a PIL based on a letter is also maintainable. The difference between a PIL based on a letter and a formal PIL is that the former is scrutinised by the PIL cell constituted in all the High Courts as well as in the Supreme Court before being registered and listed before the Court on judicial side while in case of a formal writ petition, there is no such scrutiny as per judgment of the Division Bench of Gauhati High Court7 by Hon'ble Justice Brijesh Kumar (as his Lordship then was).

I am not against public interest petition. In fact, PIL has done a great service to the nation especially in the field of protection of our environment and human rights. Nevertheless, the field needs to be properly regulated so that the system can serve the humanity in a better way and courts have no occasion to deride PIL by different names.

FORMAT FOR FILING OF PUBLIC INTEREST PETITION

IN THE _______________________

EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. ... OF_____

In Re: _________________________________ (e.g. Taj Corridor)

IN THE MATTER OF

. . Petitioner(s);

Versus

. . Respondent(s).

To,

The Hon'ble Chief Justice ____ and his companion Justices of the ________

The humble petition of the

Petitioner(s) abovenamed.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH

1. The present petition under Article 226/32 of the Constitution of India is being filed by way of public interest litigation and the petitioner has no personal interest (if he has any personal interest such interest must be disclosed). The petition is being filed in the interest of ______ (give particulars of the class of persons for whose benefit the petition is filed).

2. That the petitioner is (give short background of the petitioner; if the petitioner is an organisation, the names of the office-bearers must be furnished). The petitioner has earlier filed/not filed any other public interest petition (if filed, details of such PIL filed including the case number and the court, status and brief description of the order passed must be given. It must also be stated whether in any of such cases any cost has been awarded for or imposed against the petitioner; and whether any appreciation or stricture has been passed).

3. That the petitioner is filing the present petition on his own and not at the instance of someone else. The litigation cost, including the advocate's fee and the travelling expenses of the lawyer, if any, are being borne by the petitioner himself (if not, the petitioner must disclose the source of funds).

4. That the facts of the case in brief are as follows: (narrate the facts leading to the filing of the petition in chronological order by marking paras as 4.1, 4.2 and so on).

5. The source of information of the facts pleaded, is based on _______. (If news report, whether the applicant has verified the facts by personally visiting the place, talking to other people or from the reporter/editor of the newspaper concerned. If the petitioner does not wish to disclose the source, he may say so with reasons).

6. That the petitioner has/has not sent representation in this regard. (If yes, details of such representation and reply, if any, from the authority concerned along with copies thereof must be filed. If not, reason for not sending such representation).

7. That to the best of knowledge of the petitioner, no public interest petition (whether filed by the petitioner himself or by anyone else) raising the same issue is filed before this Hon'ble Court or before any other court. (If filed, details thereof).

8. That the present petition has been filed on the following amongst other grounds:

GROUNDS

State separate grounds with specific mention of violation of particular constitutional or statutory provision or any administrative instruction. The relevant provision of the Constitution and statute must be quoted and administrative instruction must be filed.

9. That the petitioner is seeking interim relief on the following grounds:

GROUNDS FOR INTERIM RELIEF

Specify grounds for grant of interim relief and the nature of urgency involved.

10. That the petitioner most respectfully prays that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass the following order:

PRAYER

Set out the prayer/relief claimed (if more than one relief is claimed, separate prayers may be made for each relief).

11. That the petitioner most respectfully prays that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass the following interim order pending final decision:

PRAYER FOR INTERIM RELIEF

Set out interim relief claimed (if more than one relief is claimed, separate prayers may be made for each relief).

DRAWN & FILED BY

Advocate for the petitioner

Place:

Date:

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+ Extract from speech delivered in the lecture series organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association at New Delhi on 14th December, 2004. Return to Text