Supreme Court judge Justice Nagarathna flags misuse of PILs

New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna on Tuesday flagged the misuse of PILs and said a powerful weapon to deal with injustices was reduced to being viewed with suspicion due to the actions of a few.

Justice Nagarathna said a public interest litigation (PIL) was a "virtuous weapon" in the hands of the weak but it was losing its virtue.

"PIL, if I may say in a very colloquial way, is either 'paisa interest litigation', publicity interest litigation, private interest litigation...," she said.

"PIL, if I may say, is a virtuous weapon in the hands of the weak but now it is losing its virtuousness," she added.

Justice Nagarathna was speaking at the release of "Law, Justice, Society: Selected Works of Upendra Baxi", published by Oxford University Press.

"A powerful weapon for ameliorating injustices, which, owing to the actions of a few, has been reduced to being viewed with suspicion and not in a positive light," she said.

Justice Nagarathna said professor Baxi demonstrated how PILs had served as a mechanism for holding the state accountable by enabling the judiciary to act as a guardian of fundamental rights.

"I think the time has now come for him (Baxi) to think and write about the misuse of PILs," she said.

Justice Nagarathna said the need was to have real public interest litigation or social action litigation.

She said Baxi had rightly described PILs as "social action litigation".

Professor Baxi is a great teacher and scholar whose writings have shaped legal thoughts over decades and inspired generations, she added.

"Professor Baxi's writing urge us to view the Indian Constitution as a dynamic document that embodies deep aspirations of justice, governance and societal transformation," Justice Nagarathna said.

Baxi is emeritus professor of law in the universities of Warwick and Delhi.