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Public Interest Litigation in India as a Paradigm for Developing Nations
- Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 19, Issue 2, Summer 2012
- pp. 555-573
- 10.2979/indjglolegstu.19.2.555
- Article
- Additional Information
Public interest litigation (PIL) in India can serve as a vehicle for creating and enforcing rights and is critical to the sustenance of democracy. PIL in India can address the needs of its citizens when legislative inertia afflicts the Indian National Congress. This Note discusses how PIL in India can serve as a model for other developing nations struggling with legislative inertia and can provide recourse to marginalized and disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, while PIL obscures the traditional boundaries of power in a liberal democratic polity, democracy is in fact strengthened by the expansion of standing to include any citizen who has suffered a rights abuse.