A recent verdict of the apex court has said that not all private property can be taken over by the State, while overturning Justice Krishna Iyer’s 1978 observation. Socialism may have been forgotten, but public welfare is still a focus, said dissenting judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia
The first PIL was filed by an advocate upon seeing a news report about the hardships faced by undertrial prisoners in Bihar who had to spend years in jail without being punished. But over the years, the PIL has become a tool of publicity for advocates and one of harassment for litigants.