PIL IN INDIA – NOW & THEN

This article analyzes how public interest litigation took birth in India with the continuous support and efforts of honorable judges PN Bhagwati and VR Krishnan Iyer . Over the past fours and half decades India has seen a remarkable progress in maintaining social justice and spreading the legal aid facilities through out the nation . In this article , I have tried to furnish the significant shift of judicial response from a conservative, property-rights-oriented approach to a proactive, "pro-poor" stance, largely driven by the need to regain legitimacy after the 1975-77 . This article undertakes a doctrinal and analytical study of the evolution of PIL in India by examining its conceptual foundations, scope, objectives, and judicial philosophy.It traces the transformation of PIL from a a tool to address social problems such as violation of rights of marginalized section, prisoners rights , environmental issues etc ,to it's contemporary form where it is evolving as concern of misuse along with regulatory mechanism and judicial caution . This article further surfaces the implementation challenges faced by it in evolving stage such as governmental intervention . It also analyses the interrelationship between PIL and legal aid mechanisms, including the role of legal services authorities, para-legal services, and Lok Adalats. The study concludes that while PIL remains a vital instrument for constitutional governance, its sustainability depends on principled restraint, institutional coordination, and a balanced integration with legal aid frameworks.