Question

The term "Public Interest Litigation (PIL)" was first used by:

• A. Prof. Abram Chayes
• B. Justice P.N. Bhagwati
• C. Prof. Upendra Baxi
• D. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer

Hint:

For Environment Protection Act questions, remember that Section 3 is the most important section because it grants wide powers to the Central Government for environmental protection. Questions are often asked by mentioning a specific subsection.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept: Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is one of the most significant innovations in the Indian judicial system. It allows any public-spirited individual or organization to approach the courts on behalf of disadvantaged or weaker sections of society whose rights have been violated. PIL broadened the concept of locus standi and enabled greater access to justice.

Step 1: Understanding the meaning of Public Interest Litigation.
Traditionally, only a person whose rights were directly affected could approach the court. However, many poor, illiterate, or marginalized citizens were unable to seek legal remedies. To overcome this difficulty, Indian courts developed the concept of Public Interest Litigation, under which social activists, lawyers, journalists, and public-spirited citizens could file petitions on behalf of affected groups.

Step 2: Identifying the person associated with the term PIL.
Although several judges contributed to the development of PIL, the expression Public Interest Litigation itself is generally credited to Professor Upendra Baxi, a distinguished legal scholar and academician. He extensively discussed the role of the judiciary in protecting social justice and popularized the concept through legal scholarship.

Step 3: Distinguishing between the contributors and the originator of the term.
Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer played a revolutionary role in expanding PIL jurisprudence through judicial decisions of the Supreme Court. They transformed PIL into an effective instrument for protecting fundamental rights, environmental justice, prison reforms, bonded labour rights, and many other public causes. However, the question asks specifically about the person who first used the term ``Public Interest Litigation'' and not about the judges who later developed and implemented it.

Step 4: Arriving at the correct answer.
Since the term ``Public Interest Litigation'' was first used by Professor Upendra Baxi, Prof. Upendra Baxi Hence, the correct option is (C)

Answer 2

This question asks specifically about who first used the expression "Public Interest Litigation", which is a narrower question than asking who built up PIL jurisprudence through judgments. To answer it correctly, each name offered needs to be checked against what that person is actually known for.

1. Prof. Abram Chayes: Chayes was an American law professor who wrote about what he called "public law litigation" in the context of the United States federal courts, describing how litigation was increasingly used to challenge public institutions and enforce broad social policy. His writing influenced comparative discussions on public interest adjudication, but he was writing about the American system and is not the person credited with coining the Indian expression "Public Interest Litigation".
2. Justice P.N. Bhagwati: Justice Bhagwati is remembered as one of the judges who transformed PIL from an academic idea into a working feature of Indian constitutional practice, relaxing the rule of standing and accepting letters as writ petitions. His contribution was judicial, applying and expanding the doctrine through decisions, not coining the phrase itself.
3. Prof. Upendra Baxi: Baxi was a legal academic whose scholarship on access to justice, social action litigation and the role of courts in protecting the disadvantaged gave the movement its name and its intellectual framework. The expression "Public Interest Litigation" as used in Indian legal discourse traces back to his writings, which is why he, and not the sitting judges of the time, is credited with first using the term.
4. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer: Like Justice Bhagwati, Justice Krishna Iyer is celebrated for using his judgments to build a humane and accessible jurisprudence around prison reform and bonded labour. His role, again, was to give PIL its judicial teeth rather than to originate the phrase.

Sorting the options this way separates the person who coined the expression from the judges who later turned it into a functioning remedy. Only Prof. Upendra Baxi fits the first description.

Hence, the correct answer is Prof. Upendra Baxi.