Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is a process by which law could deliver justice to those who, on account of a variety of reasons,

might not be able to approach the courts. Besides, it is also an effective tool to address the issues that affect us collectively but none of us in particular, In India, the PIL came in fhe late 1970s but acquired its particularly useful shape in the 1980s in the hands of judges like Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. Justice Iyer calls PIL a process of obtaining justice for the people, by voicing peoples grievance through the legal process. The aim of PIL is to give to the common people of this country access to the courts to obtain legal redress. Article 32 guarantees the right to legal redressed and the Supreme Court might be directly petitioned if any of the fundamental rights are violated. Article 32(2) empowers the Supreme Court to issue directions or orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warrantor whichever may be appropriate for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III of the Constitution. It is the duty of the Supreme Court and other courts to do complete justice. Article 226 empowers the High Courts to issue orders or writs to any person or authority, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warrantor and certiorari for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III (Fundamental Rights) and for any other purpose. A PIL may be filed either in any of the High Court or the Supreme Court. There is no prescribed format or rules governing the filing of a PIL and there have been occasions when even a postcard was treated as a PIL. One may send a letter by registered post or file a petition through the free legal service committee of court, or with the help of a lawyer, or through an NGO.

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
It is the current term in use- judicial activism. In a way it is an absurd term- if we have a judiciary it is to be hoped that its members will be active, but the term activism. Of course implies intervention. In other words, it is judicial activism that helps to advance the cause of law, and it has been a continuous process in India. Judicial activism is, in fact, an essential part of judicial review. The judgement enunciating the concept of the basic structure of the constitution may be describe as judicial activism, and it came more than twenty year ago. the views of Prof. Jeffrey Jowell from England Outlining the guiding principles of judicial activism, he said that judges may intervene if the executive exceeds the terms of power conferred on them. So is judicial intervention to be seen that policy is not sacrificed for principle. Judicial activism becomes necessary to put a check on tyranny born out of a temporary political majority in legislature which might otherwise seek to rewrite the constitution in order to be entrenched in power. In the present wave of judicial activism prompted by public interest suits ranging from cases of out-turn allotment of government houses without proper reason, discretionary allotment of petrol pumps and LPG connections to those having influence with highly-place bureaucrats/politicians. The fraud involving animal husbandry scam in Bihar and of course the (in) famous Hawala cases, the Supreme Court has given firm decision. In the words of Justice J.S. Verma Judicial activism and judicial restraint are two faces of the same coin. Self-discipline is to be practised strictly by the members of the judiciary and judges must refrain from commenting on policy matters.

One worry concerning judicial activism is however real. What if the orders passed are not enforced? What if these PIL cases become unmanageable numerically? What is to be done in case of delay-so common in judicial matters? It is also necessary that the effort to democratic India is not left to judges alone. It is the duty of every thinking citizen of this country to help the judiciary in this effort. The media too has a role in educating the public and crusading for a clean and efficient administration.