RAS question
The concept of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in India was introduced by:
Correct answer: (C) Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati.
Public Interest Litigation in India was introduced by Supreme Court Justices V.R. Krishna Iyer and P.N. Bhagwati.
Explanation
Public Interest Litigation developed in India through judicial activism, with Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati credited as the judges who first introduced the concept. Its emergence belongs to the late 1970s and early 1980s, with Mumbai Kamgar Sabha v. Abdulbhai (1976) and Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979) as early landmarks. The Indian Express explains the core idea: PIL allowed any citizen or organisation to approach a court for enforcing the rights of a person or group unable to access legal remedies because of material or other disadvantage. That is why the answer is not merely about a judge's name, but about a wider shift in access to constitutional justice.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) B.R. Ambedkar framed the Constitution, but the introduction of PIL came decades later through judicial activism, not during constitution-making.
- (B) Justice Ranjan Gogoi was a later Chief Justice of India, while the first introduction of PIL is credited to Justices V.R. Krishna Iyer and P.N. Bhagwati.
- (D) Justice D.Y. Chandrachud belongs to a later phase of the Supreme Court, whereas PIL's introduction is tied to the late 1970s and early 1980s cases associated with Krishna Iyer and Bhagwati.
Concept
This tests the evolution of judicial activism and access to justice under Indian polity. RAS repeatedly asks such concepts because PIL connects fundamental rights, Supreme Court innovations, and citizen-centred governance.