Public Interest Litigation: Misuse of Civil Weapon of Justice

Abstract

Public Interest Litigation is the powerful weapon of civil justice for the weaker and deprived section of the society. The objective of the study is to critically examine the literature on the misuse of PILs in India. So, the paper is a review-based study including some recent and famous case laws on misuse of public interest litigation. The main purpose of the PILs is to establish good structure of governance where interest of very section is protected. In the recent times the spirit behind the PILs have been distorted and it has been used as a tool of harassment, publicity, personal gains, business interest, professional PIL shops, corporate gain etc. The study includes the recommendations to curb the practice of misusing this transformational weapon of justice such as only bona fide PILs should be accepted, uncertain and doubtful PILs should be rejected at initial stage, and role of media in highlighting misuse of PILs etc. The PIL still remains the important part of judicial activism.