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8 - PUCL v. Union of India

Political Mobilization and the Right to Food

from Part II - The Supreme Court of India, Social and Political Mobilization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2019

By
Alyssa Brierley
Edited by
Gerald N. Rosenberg ,
Sudhir Krishnaswamy  and
Shishir Bail
Gerald N. Rosenberg
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Sudhir Krishnaswamy
Affiliation:
Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Shishir Bail
Affiliation:
Azim Premji University, Bangalore
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Summary

Activists have long turned to courts to influence policy. Much of the literature analyzing the experience of activists using courts has focused on judicial outcomes, yet accomplishments beyond successful judgments can be of equal importance as they also effect social change. In particular, engaging in litigation can have a demonstrable impact on the social movements themselves – building and strengthening movements, and providing spaces for manoeuvring. This chapter examines the impact of litigation on the development of the Right to Food Campaign in India, one of India's largest contemporary social movements. Using qualitative data from in-depth interviews with activists and lawyers and a comparative analysis with an earlier case, this chapter analyzes the factors and conditions under which courts can be catalysts for social mobilization, including the existence of opportunities for reform, pre-existing rights consciousness and organizational resources available for mobilization.

Keywords

political mobilizationlitigationright to foodhuman rightshungerIndiasocial activismdevelopmentjudicial activismsocial justice
Type
Chapter
Information
A Qualified Hope
The Indian Supreme Court and Progressive Social Change
 , pp. 212 - 240
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

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Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India & Others 1984 AIR 802.Google Scholar
Kishen Pattnayak And Anr. v. State of Orissa AIR 1989 SC 677.Google Scholar
M. C. Mehta v. Union of India Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13029 of 1985.Google Scholar
Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka, 1992 AIR 1858.Google Scholar
Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation 1986 AIR 180.Google Scholar
P.U.C.L. v. Union of India & Ors. W.P (Civil) 96/2001.Google Scholar
P.U.D.R. v. Union of India 1982 AIR 1473.Google Scholar
Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar & Ors, 1991 AIR 420.Google Scholar

Cases

Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India & Others 1984 AIR 802.Google Scholar
Kishen Pattnayak And Anr. v. State of Orissa AIR 1989 SC 677.Google Scholar
M. C. Mehta v. Union of India Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13029 of 1985.Google Scholar
Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka, 1992 AIR 1858.Google Scholar
Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation 1986 AIR 180.Google Scholar
P.U.C.L. v. Union of India & Ors. W.P (Civil) 96/2001.Google Scholar
P.U.D.R. v. Union of India 1982 AIR 1473.Google Scholar
Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar & Ors, 1991 AIR 420.Google Scholar

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