Rights, Autonomy and Process: Public Interest Litigation in India

Abstract

differences of culture, tradition and the like. This article will be concerned with one such problem, that of standing and public interest litigation as they have developed in the Indian Constitution. The topic will be of considerable interest to those who work within the normal Western legal tradition, precisely because India stands at a cultural and developmental crossroads. Her legal system has inherited much from the English, while the stage of her economic development renders more acute many of the socio-economic problems which can manifest themselves within public law litigation. India presents therefore a testing ground for the application of common law principles where the nature of the substantive problems to be solved will often be more acute than those normally faced within the West. How well such principles withstand this challenge is therefore of considerable interest. The ensuing analysis will be divided into three parts. We will begin with a brief discussion of the relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution. This will be followed by consideration of the leading cases in the development of public interest litigation. In the final part of this article we will relate the judicial developments to the important recent work of Raz,1 and show how his ideas of rights, autonomy and collective goods assist in understanding themes within the case law.