QUESTION 14
GS2
15 marks
Explain the reasons for the growth of public interest litigation in India. As a result of it, has the Indian Supreme Court emerged as the world's most powerful judiciary?
WRITE IN
11 min
250 words
What the examiner wants
Explain why PIL grew in India and judge whether it has made the Supreme Court the world's most powerful court.
ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.
Demand-wise check
- 1Reasons: post-Emergency judicial activism, relaxed locus standi, epistolary jurisdiction, executive and legislative failure≈65 words
- 2Results: environment, prisoners, bonded labour, governance cases≈65 words
- 3Most powerful? Basic structure doctrine, continuing mandamus, Article 142 — but also limits (enforcement, docket, criticism of overreach)≈65 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
ReasonsImpactAssessment of 'most powerful'Conclusion
Where marks usually go
- Not answering the second question
- No landmark PIL cases
Draw this
- Timeline of landmark PILs
Value addition
- Case lawS.P. Gupta v. Union of India (1981) relaxed locus standi, opening PIL.Supreme Court of India, 1981
- Case lawHussainara Khatoon (1979) on undertrial prisoners was among the first PILs.Supreme Court of India, 1979
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Alfred Thomas · Page 13 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 9 ↗Same syllabus reference
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