Petitioner, a medical practitioner, filed a petition requesting that the court direct the State of Madhya Pradesh and the Municipal Corporation, Gwalior to clean up the open drains, dirt, and contaminated water and rubbish which the petitioner claimed resulted in the spread of a cholera epidemic. The Municipal Corporation claimed that it performed it obligatory …Read more

Technology Developers, the Petitioner, was a private corporation engaged in the manufacture and export of charcoal briquettes. The mayor of Bulacan, a nearby town, sent a letter to Technology Developers, expressing concern over the pollution emitted by the Petitioner in the form of fumes that “not only pollute the air in the locality but also …Read more

The petitioner, an influential businessman, filed a public interest litigation claim against two iron and steel companies, which the petitioner claimed had created health risks by dumping surplus waste from factory washeries in the form of sludge and slurry into the nearby Bokaro river. According to the petitioner, the sludge and slurry had been deposited …Read more

This writ petition had been filed in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution (right to move the Supreme Court for violation of fundamental rights), as a result of a letter outlining the condition of women in a “care home.” It was alleged in the letter that female inmates were made to live …Read more

Due to discharge of untreated effluents in the Ganga river, the water of the river was rendered unsafe for drinking, fishing and bathing purposes, essentially creating a public nuisance. In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India & ors., ((1987) 4 S.C.C. 463), the Court had held the city municipality, Kanpur Nagar Mahapalika (Mahapalika), responsible for …Read more

In 1985 the Petitioners wrote a letter to the Court regarding the deteriorating state of the Ranchi Mansik Arogyashala, a mental hospital (the Hospital) in Bihar. The Court treated it as a public interest litigation under Article 32 of the Constitution. The Court directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate to visit the Hospital and submit a …Read more

LK Koolwal, the Petitioner, sought to enforce the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 (the Act) in the city of Jaipur. Under the Act, the Municipality has a duty to clean public places of all filth. The Petitioner contended that several areas in Jaipur were frought with sanitation problems and the Municipality was not performing its duties …Read more

Chief Bernard Ominayak (the “author”) was the leader and representative of the Lubicon Lake Band (the “Band”), a Cree Indian Band living in the Province of Alberta in Canada. He argued that the State party expropriated Lubicon land for commercial interest despite its recognition that the Band members had the right to continue their traditional …Read more

The Petitioner was an ‘an organisation dedicated to the cause of release of bonded labourers’. It conducted a survey in stone quarries and mines in Faridabad district. It found that several workmen in these mines were migrant workers from other States in India who were ‘bonded labourers.’ They were living in conditions of abject poverty. …Read more

A group of African-American residents filed a class action lawsuit in Federal District Court against the City of Apopka, Florida (the “City”), which alleged that the City had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the State and Local Assistance Act of 1972 …Read more

Both the prosperous and poor people of New Road, Ratlam were victims of extremely inadequate basic public sanitation facilities, fluid discharge of a local alcohol plant and overflow of storm water to the street. This resulted in various types of septic fluids flowing openly and constantly in the street, and consequently the street’s sanitation was …Read more

This case was an appeal by the State of Colorado (“Colorado”) and Colorado prison officials, challenging an order from the Colorado Federal District Court directing the State of Colorado to close the maximum security unit of the Colorado State Penitentiary at Canon City (“Old Max”). Inmate Fidel Ramos filed a complaint alleging that the conditions …Read more

Juanito Solon was convicted and fined (with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency) for having violated Cebu City Ordinance No. 241 (the Ordinance). The Ordinance required drivers of vehicle-drawing animals to properly dispose of the waste discharged by their vehicle-drawing animals while traveling City roads. Solon challenged his conviction on the grounds that the Ordinance …Read more

Petitioner Seng Kee & Co. owned a toyo factory in Manila. The manufacture of toyo involved fermenting beans, adding brown sugar, and then cooking the mixture over a slow fire for several hours. During fermentation, the beans were laid out for several days and the fermented beans and the presence of vast quantities of coarse …Read more