Public Interest Litigation (PILs)

 Public interest litigation is an integral part of Indian law and its legal system. In August 2010, the Central Government informed the Madras High Court that it has decided to introduce new rules to form a regulatory authority to streamline the operations of law firms in India.  

Mr. M. Ravindran, additional solicitor-general and a senior advocate from South India, made this submission, in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The PIL demanded the restriction of foreign law firms from functioning in India. This PIL was filed by Advocate A.K Balaji.

Almost 25 years later after India’s worst industrial disaster, India legal news reports that a court in Bhopal has delivered the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case.  All the eight accused in this case have been convicted and found guilty by the court. The accident took place on 2^nd December 1984, and is attributed to the failure of safety systems, which allowed forty tones of the poisonous methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide plant, to mix with water at a high temperature. Slum dwellers were the worst affected people in this devastating tragedy. The official number of deaths according to the State Government was 3, 787. However, it is reported that about 20,000 people died and 5.7 lakh people were injured in the Bhopal gas tragedy, making it the world’s worst industrial disaster!