oppressed class by introducing a PIL. Parties against whom PILs can be filed A PIL may be filed against state government, central government, municipal authority, private party. Also, private person may be included in PIL as ‘Respondent’, after concerned of state authority. i.e. a private factory in Mumbai which is causing pollution then public interest litigation can be filed against government of Mumbai, state pollution central board including that private factory of Mumbai. Filing a PIL under article 32, 226 Constitution of India or section 133 Cr. P. C. The court must be satisfied that the Writ petition fulfills some basic needs for PIL as the letter is addressed by the aggrieved person, public spirited individual and a social action group for the enforcement of legal or Constitutional rights to any person who are not able to approach the court for redress. Any citizen can file a public case by filing a petition: Under Art 32 of the Indian Constitution, in the Supreme Court. Under Art 226 of the Indian Constitution, in the High Court. Under sec. 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in a magistrate's court. Landmark PIL cases Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan The case fought against sexual harassment in the workplace and was filed by Bhanwari Devi, who, after trying to stop the marriage of a one year old girl in rural Rajasthan, was raped by five men. She faced numerous problems when she (Devi) attempted to seek justice. Naina Kapoor decided to initiate a PIL to challenge sexual harassment at workplace in the Supreme Courts. The judgement of the case recognized sexual harassment as a violation of the fundamental constitutional rights of Articles 14, 15, and 21. The guidelines also directed for sexual harassment prevention. M. C. Mehta v. Union of India The court shut down numerous industries and allowed them to reopen only after controlled pollution disposal in the Ganga basin. Impact of PIL A controversial study by social scientist Hans Dembowski concluded that PILs had been successful in making official authorities accountable to NGOs. While Dembowski also found some effect at the grassroots level, PIL cases dealing with major environmental grievances in the Kolkata urban agglomeration did not tackle underlying problems (such as inadequate town planning). Dembowsk wrote about it in his book, Taking the State to Supreme Court - Public Interest Litigation and the Public Sphere in Metropolitan India which was originally published