There is something amiss about the present debate on the need to frame guidelines for public interest litigation (<font class="UCASE">pils)</font>. It ignores the rationale that the Supreme Court of India put forth for such lawsuits in 1982. Delivering its verdict in the S C Gupta vs the Union of India case, popularly known as the <i>Judges Transfer Case</i>, the court observed that the public needed judicial safeguards against infringement of their rights at a time the state was expanding its reach through development activities. <font class="UCASE">pil</font>s fitted this bill.