LANDMARK CASES RELATED TO PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

We are the ‘Law Offices of Kr. Vivek Tanwar Advocate and Associates’ specializing in providing legal services relating to Public Interest Litigation. In today’s world, people rely on various services across different sectors, from healthcare to e-commerce. Our firm is dedicated to safeguarding the rights and interests of people, ensuring that they receive fair treatment and protection against any unfair trade practices or deficiencies in service.

PIL or Public Interest Litigation signifies a chief instrument through which the concept of judicial activism is established as it facilitates exercising of writ jurisdiction by high courts or the Supreme Court of India to safeguard the fundamental and legal rights of the citizens of India at large.

The following are the prominent cases relating to PIL:

1. Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar

This case centered on the horrifying conditions and the misery of detainees and convicts who were awaiting trial. This significant case extended the horizons and offered a more expansive interpretation of Article 21, which declared that every person has a fundamental right to seek a timely trial. The court’s ruling that the state must offer free legal representation and quick trials in order to administer justice properly almost resulted in the release of 40,000 convicts awaiting trial.

• Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan

A social worker named Bhanwari Devi was gang-raped in a Rajasthani village in 1992. Sexual harassment was acknowledged as “a clear violation” of the fundamental constitutional rights to equality, nondiscrimination, life, and liberty as well as the right to engage in any occupation in the Vishaka decision. The employer-focused instructions contained a definition of sexual harassment, a list of preventative measures, and a description of the formal complaint procedures that were to be “strictly observed in all work places for the preservation and enforcement of the right to gender equality.”

It has pushed for broader application of international law and stronger enforcement of women’s rights at the high court level. As a result, the case has been referred to as “pathbreaking,” “one of the most powerful legacies” of the PIL case.

• MC Mehta v. Union of India

In response to a facility in Bhopal releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere, MC Mehta filed a Public Interest Litigation. In this instance, the court expanded the application of Articles 21 and 32 of the Indian Constitution. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy is another name for the incident.

M.C. Mehta requested the closure and relocation of the Shriram Caustic Chlorine and Sulphuric Acid Plant, which was situated in a densely populated region of Delhi, in a PIL under Articles 21 and 32 of the Constitution.

When the Inspector of Factories and the Commissioner (Factories) issued separate directives on December 8 and December 24, 1985, factories were promptly shut down. This incident occurred just a few months before the Environment (Protection) Act went into effect, therefore it served as a model for having an efficient law like this.

We are a law firm in the name and style of Law Offices of Kr. Vivek Tanwar Advocate and Associates at Gurugram and Rewari. We are providing litigation support services for matters related to Public Interest Litigation Law.

Written By- Vartika Chahal