TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION RULES
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....UBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION RULES<br>By: - DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN<br>Other Topics<br>Dated:- 23-6-2025<br>Public Interest Litigation Public Interest Litigation is a legal action initiated in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party, but by a third party or the court itself, to protect or enforce public interest. It is a mechanism to address issues affecting the public or a large group of people, often when those affected lack the resources or ability to seek legal redress individually. The concept of PIL originated in the United States and has been adopted and adapted in India. In India, PILs gained prominence in the 1980s, with Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati being pioneers in promoting the use of public inter....
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....est litigations. The Supreme Court and High Courts in India have the power to entertain public interest litigations. Public Interest Litigations provide a powerful tool for ensuring access to justice for marginalized and vulnerable sections of society. They help in holding public authorities accountable for their actions and ensuring that the law is applied fairly to all. Public Interest Litigations have been instrumental in addressing a wide range of social and public issues, leading to significant reforms and positive changes in society. Supreme Court judgment on public interest litigation The Supreme Court, in STATE OF UTTARANCHAL VERSUS BALWANT SINGH CHAUFAL & OTHERS - 2010 (1) TMI 1095 - SUPREME COURT held that the courts mu....
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....st encourage genuine and bona fide public interest litigations and effectively discourage and curb the public interest litigation filed for extraneous considerations. Instead of every individual judge devising his own procedure for dealing with the public interest litigation, it would be appropriate for each High Court to properly formulate rules for encouraging the genuine PIL and discouraging the PIL filed with oblique motives. Consequently, we request that the High Courts who have not yet framed the rules, should frame the rules within three months. The Registrar General of each High Court is directed to ensure that a copy of the Rules prepared by the High Court is sent to the Secretary General of this court immediately there....
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....after. Accordingly, all the High Court framed the rules in this regard as per the directions of Supreme Court. We may take the rules framed by Delhi High Court in 'Delhi High Court (Public Interest Ligations) Rules, 2010, which came into effect from 25.11.2010. 'Public Interest Litigation' is defined under Rule 2(c) as a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India filed as a Public Interest Litigation or a Letter Petition which may be entertained as a Public Interest Litigation under these Rules. Letter petition The expression 'letter petition' is defined under Rule 2(b) as an informal written communication, addressed to the High Court or Hon'ble the Chief Justice or any Hon'ble Judge of the Hi....
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....gh Court. The letter petitions of the following categories shall not be entertained as public interest litigation- * Landlord-Tenant disputes; * Service matters and those pertaining to pension (not being family pension) and gratuity; * Personal disputes between individuals. * Disputes relating to contractual or statutory liabilities * Matrimonial disputes. The anonymous letter petition, as well as the petitions from which the identity of the petitioner cannot be established or entertained shall not be entertained by the High Court. For the purposes of disposing of letter petitions, the Chief Justice of High Court shall constitute a Public Interest Litigation Cell. The Cell shall be headed by an Officer not belo....
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....w the rank of Deputy Registrar. The letter petitions received are processed by the Public Interest Litigation Cell. The Public Interest Litigation Cell shall place the letter petitions before the Public Interest Litigation Committee. The said Committee shall consist of at least two judges nominated by the Chief Justice of the said High Court. The Public Interest Litigation Committee shall consider the letter petition and take necessary action it may consider necessary. The same may be approved by the Committee. Once the Letter petition gets the approval of the Public Interest Litigation the same shall be referred to Public Interest Litigation Bench unless otherwise directed by the Chief Justi....
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....ce. The Public Interest Litigation Cell shall prepare a gist of the Letter Petition in English and the points of public concern raised in the Letter Petition, the replies, if any, received from any department, Addresses of the Government Departments/officials, who may be considered as the necessary or appropriate parties for the decision of the petition and send it for listing. Public Interest Litigations Writ petitions on public interest may be filed before the High Court. Such writ petition shall have an inscription below the writ petition number as 'In the Matter of a Public Interest Litigation'. There shall be a declaration in the first para of the petition that- * the writ petitioner has no personal interes....
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....t in the litigation; * the petition is not guided by self-gain or for gain of any other person/institution/body; and * there is no motive other than of public interest in filing the writ petition. In the second para of the petition the source of knowledge of the facts alleged in the writ petition and the further inquiries/investigation made to determine the veracity of the same. In the third para of the writ petition it shall be specified the class of persons for whose benefit the petition has been filed and as to how such persons are incapable of accessing the Courts themselves. In the fourth para of the petition the persons/bodies/institutions likely to be affected by the orders sought in the writ petition and which/who shall....
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.... be impleaded as respondents. A further averment that to the knowledge of the petitioner no other persons/bodies/institutions are likely to be affected by the orders sought in the writ petition, shall be indicated. In the fifth para of the petition, the back ground of the petitioner with qualifications that are necessary to show the competence of the petitioner to file the public interest litigation. If the petitioner is an organization, the names and address of its office bearers and the nature of its activities shall also be stated. A declaration shall be given to the effect that the petitioner has the means to pay the costs, if any, imposed by the Court and on an undertaking to the Court in that respect. In the sixth para o....
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....f the petition, the details of representations made to the authorities concerned and the replies for those representations received, if any, shall be set out precisely in the writ petition. The petitioner shall indicate about the details of previous public interest litigations /letter petition filed by him, by giving the writ petition number, the status of the case and the outcome of the case in a tabular form. The petitioner shall present the pleadings in brief divided into paragraphs setting forth the cause which has given rise to the filing of the writ petition shall be pleaded followed by the grounds in support of the prayer, followed by the prayer clause in the last paragraph giving the precise prayer which the petitioner wants to be....
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.... granted by the Court. If the petitioner is unable to provide information for any of the matters above there shall be a specific averment as to the reason why said information is not being provided. Affidavit Each public interest litigation shall be accompanied by an affidavit as shown below- PROFORMA - A AFFIDAVIT I aged _________ years, s/o ------------------------------------------ r/o ____________ do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under: 1.That I am the petitioner above named OR I am of the petitioner above named. The petitioner is a society / company having its registered office at ___ and I have vide resolution passed in the Meeting of the Board ....
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....of Directors/ General Body/Executive Committee of the petitioner been authorised to institute and sign this petition. 2. I have filed the present petition as a Public Interest Litigation. 3. I have gone through the Delhi High Court (public Interest Litigation) Rules, 2010 and do hereby affirm that the present Public Interest Litigation is in conformity thereof. 4. I/petitioner have/has no personal interest in the litigation and neither myself nor anybody in whom I am/petitioner is interested would in any manner benefit from the relief sought in the present litigation save as a member of the General Public. This petition is not guided by self-gain or gain of any person, institution, body and there is no motive other than of public interes....
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....t in filing this petition. S. I have done whatsoever inquiry/investigation which was in my power to do, to collect all data/material which was available and which was relevant for this court to entertain the present petition. I further confirm that I have not concealed in. the present petition any data/material /information which may have enabled this court to form an opinion whether to entertain this petition or not and/or whether to grant any relief or not. DEPONENT IN VERIFICATION Inherent Power of Court These rules shall not affect the inherent power of the Court to make such orders as may be necessary for the ends of justice or to prevent abuse of the process of the Court, including the power to impose exemplary costs and/or....
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.... to debar a petitioner or an Advocate to file Public Interest Litigation if found to be indulging in frivolous or motivated litigation.<br> Scholarly articles for knowledge sharing by authors, experts, professionals ....