To bring in an effective tool to stop filing of frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is giving final touches to a bill to regulate the PIL..To bring in an effective tool to stop filing of frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is giving final touches to a bill to regulate the PIL..Indian Express reports, the former Chief Justice of India P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, who pioneered the concept of PIL, are helping the Ministry in drafting this legislation..“For last many years, there has been demand that there should be some checks and balances so as to ensure that only genuine PILs, which are filed with the public good in mind, are allowed while those aimed at either harassing some individual or corporate or protecting the interests of an individual or corporate should be checked at the very initial stage. Even the Supreme Court was constrained to issue guidelines to regulate the PILs. We have decided to try and take it forward and bring a legislation laying down guidelines for PILs,” Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told the media..The concept of PIL was evolved by the courts in the 1980s primarily by relaxing the rule of locus standi and broadening the definition of aggrieved persons, as under the normal rule only the ‘person aggrieved’ could approach the court. The main reason for such relaxation of the rule was that the weaker sections of the society, due to their poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, were not able to assert their fundamental rights..It was through the efforts of Justice Bhagwati and Justice Iyer, attempts were made to bring wider issues affecting the general public at large within the ambit of PIL. The Courts by their judicial creativity and innovation have passed a number of directions in the fields of human rights, consumer welfare and environment..However, of late, it has been increasingly felt that the number of PILs which are motivated and lacking in bona fide are out numbering those which are filed to serve public interest or to protect the interest of the weaker section of the society..As a result, the apex court itself was compelled to lay down certain guidelines to govern the management and disposal of PILs..Last year, the Supreme Court in the case of State of Uttaranchal vs. Balwant Singh Chaufal imposed an exemplary cost of Rs.1 lakh on the respondents for filing frivolous PIL before the High Court. In the same case, the Supreme Court while issuing the guidelines for the High Court said, “We think time has come when genuine and bona fide public interest litigation must be encouraged, whereas frivolous public interest litigation should be discouraged”. The Supreme Court had directed all High Courts to frame and notify their rules in this regard..The Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court are: the courts should prima facie verify the credentials of the petitioner before entertaining a PIL; prima facie be satisfied about the correctness of the contents of the petition; be satisfied that substantial public interest is involved; ensure that the petition that involves larger public interest, gravity and urgency is given priority; before entertaining a PIL, ensure that it is aimed at the redress of genuine public harm or public injury; ensure that there is no personal gain, private motive or oblique motive behind filing the PIL; and, finally, ensure that petitions filed by busybodies for extraneous and ulterior motives are discouraged by imposing exemplary costs or by adopting similar novel methods..The Chief Justice of India, S. H. Kapadia, who assumed office on May 12, 2010 has also taken a very strict view on filing of frivolous PILs. On his first day in office, while hearing a PIL as part of a three-judge Bench CJI said, “Huge cost will be imposed for filing frivolous PILs”..CJI while hearing another petition said, “PIL petitioners have been moving the courts straightaway without even bringing the problem to the notice of the authorities. And the courts have been entertaining these PILs, virtually taking over the function of the authorities. We will not allow such bypassing of the authorities to take place any more”..Recently, a bench of Madras High Court while dismissing a petition seeking a direction to the authorities to provide telephone facility in all prisons observed, “In a poor, developing country like ours, where a majority of the population is living below the poverty line and many of them languishing without food and shelter, we are shocked to see that a noble concept of PIL is being hijacked for such trivial purposes”..The Ministry is proposing to effectively discourage and curb the PILs filed for extraneous considerations. It also wants to make it an offence for anybody to file a PIL for extraneous and ulterior motives and empower the courts to discourage such PILs by imposing exemplary costs..“We are not making it illegal to file a PIL. But we only want to check frivolous and motivated PILs”, Moily said to the media.
To bring in an effective tool to stop filing of frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is giving final touches to a bill to regulate the PIL..To bring in an effective tool to stop filing of frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is giving final touches to a bill to regulate the PIL..Indian Express reports, the former Chief Justice of India P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, who pioneered the concept of PIL, are helping the Ministry in drafting this legislation..“For last many years, there has been demand that there should be some checks and balances so as to ensure that only genuine PILs, which are filed with the public good in mind, are allowed while those aimed at either harassing some individual or corporate or protecting the interests of an individual or corporate should be checked at the very initial stage. Even the Supreme Court was constrained to issue guidelines to regulate the PILs. We have decided to try and take it forward and bring a legislation laying down guidelines for PILs,” Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told the media..The concept of PIL was evolved by the courts in the 1980s primarily by relaxing the rule of locus standi and broadening the definition of aggrieved persons, as under the normal rule only the ‘person aggrieved’ could approach the court. The main reason for such relaxation of the rule was that the weaker sections of the society, due to their poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, were not able to assert their fundamental rights..It was through the efforts of Justice Bhagwati and Justice Iyer, attempts were made to bring wider issues affecting the general public at large within the ambit of PIL. The Courts by their judicial creativity and innovation have passed a number of directions in the fields of human rights, consumer welfare and environment..However, of late, it has been increasingly felt that the number of PILs which are motivated and lacking in bona fide are out numbering those which are filed to serve public interest or to protect the interest of the weaker section of the society..As a result, the apex court itself was compelled to lay down certain guidelines to govern the management and disposal of PILs..Last year, the Supreme Court in the case of State of Uttaranchal vs. Balwant Singh Chaufal imposed an exemplary cost of Rs.1 lakh on the respondents for filing frivolous PIL before the High Court. In the same case, the Supreme Court while issuing the guidelines for the High Court said, “We think time has come when genuine and bona fide public interest litigation must be encouraged, whereas frivolous public interest litigation should be discouraged”. The Supreme Court had directed all High Courts to frame and notify their rules in this regard..The Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court are: the courts should prima facie verify the credentials of the petitioner before entertaining a PIL; prima facie be satisfied about the correctness of the contents of the petition; be satisfied that substantial public interest is involved; ensure that the petition that involves larger public interest, gravity and urgency is given priority; before entertaining a PIL, ensure that it is aimed at the redress of genuine public harm or public injury; ensure that there is no personal gain, private motive or oblique motive behind filing the PIL; and, finally, ensure that petitions filed by busybodies for extraneous and ulterior motives are discouraged by imposing exemplary costs or by adopting similar novel methods..The Chief Justice of India, S. H. Kapadia, who assumed office on May 12, 2010 has also taken a very strict view on filing of frivolous PILs. On his first day in office, while hearing a PIL as part of a three-judge Bench CJI said, “Huge cost will be imposed for filing frivolous PILs”..CJI while hearing another petition said, “PIL petitioners have been moving the courts straightaway without even bringing the problem to the notice of the authorities. And the courts have been entertaining these PILs, virtually taking over the function of the authorities. We will not allow such bypassing of the authorities to take place any more”..Recently, a bench of Madras High Court while dismissing a petition seeking a direction to the authorities to provide telephone facility in all prisons observed, “In a poor, developing country like ours, where a majority of the population is living below the poverty line and many of them languishing without food and shelter, we are shocked to see that a noble concept of PIL is being hijacked for such trivial purposes”..The Ministry is proposing to effectively discourage and curb the PILs filed for extraneous considerations. It also wants to make it an offence for anybody to file a PIL for extraneous and ulterior motives and empower the courts to discourage such PILs by imposing exemplary costs..“We are not making it illegal to file a PIL. But we only want to check frivolous and motivated PILs”, Moily said to the media.