Why do you think the introduction of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the 1980s is a significant step in ensuring access to justice for all?
Answer The Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL to increase access to justice. It allowed any individual or organisation to file a PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of those whose rights were violated. The legal process was greatly simplified, and even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme Court, or the High Court could be treated as a PIL. In the early years, PIL was used to secure justice on a large number of issues, such as rescuing bonded labourers from inhuman work conditions; one such example is securing the release of prisoners in Bihar who had been kept in jail even after their punishment term was complete.
Thus, the introduction of Public Interest Litigation is a significant step in ensuring access to justice for all.
6. Re-read excerpts from the judgment on the Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation case. Now, write in your own words what the judges meant when they said that the Right to Livelihood was part of the Right to Life.
Answer In the Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation case, the judges stated that the Right to Livelihood was part of the Right to Life. They stated that life does not merely mean an animal’s existence; it cannot be lived without a means of livelihood. In the above-mentioned case, people were poor and lived in slums; they had small jobs and no other place to live. For them, eviction from their slum means deprivation of their livelihood, which consequently means deprivation of life. This is how judges connected the right to life to the basic requirements of any livelihood, i.e. Food, Clothes and shelter.
7. Write a story around the theme, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’.
Answer Students have to do this by themselves.
8. Make sentences with each of the glossary words given on the next page.
Acquit, To appeal, Compensation, Eviction, Violation.
