[1] In India, anybody can file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) suit on behalf of a group of people whose rights are being affected, typically one of the weaker segments of the community.
Other founder members were senior advocates including Fali Sam Nariman, Shanti Bhushan, Anil Divan, Rajinder Sachar and Colin Gonsalves.
[4] In October 1997, the Delhi High Court heard a CPIL petition over the award of contracts to Enron and Reliance Industries develop the Panna-Mukta oilfield, and issued notices to the involved companies and government organisations.
The petition claimed an inquiry was justified on the basis of testimony that Reliance had bribed the minister of petroleum, Satish Sharma, to get the award.
[citation needed] In 2007, Prashant Bhushan of the CPIL filed a petition with the Delhi High Court to investigate whether there had been kickbacks in the 2005 Scorpene submarine deal.
[10] The CPIL is best known for taking the lead in filing a suit against the Government of India for irregularities in a major award of spectrum for 2G mobile telephones.