S.S. Nijjar, J. - This judgment will dispose of CWPs No. 12191 of 1999, 17168 of 1998 and 8121 of 1999. It is claimed that the writ petitions have been filed in public interest.

2. The Supreme Court pioneered the concept of Pubic Interest Litigation (PIL) for the effective enforcement of the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution of India.

3. Public Interest Litigation was initially resorted to ventilate the grievances of the poor, ignorant and socially disadvantaged segments of the Indian Society. By normal process, many weaker sections of the society are not able to reach the portals of justice due to the normally tardy and expensive procedure of law. Public Interest Litigation was resorted to for protecting the human rights of the weaker sections of the Indian Society guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. But this sphere of public interest litigation has grown many fold over the last few years. The Supreme Court has, therefore, had to lay down, on a number of occasions the guidelines in which a particular matter may be treated as Public Interest Litigation. Merely because a writ petition is stated to be filed in Public Interest Litigation is