Parens patriae
Topic: State, Government and Governance: Organs, Levels and the Citizen · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Parens patriae is Latin for "parent of the nation". It is the idea that the State acts as guardian of people who cannot protect themselves, such as disaster victims or people too ill to decide for themselves. Indian courts use it to justify the State, or the court itself, stepping in on their behalf. It fits the Constitution's aim of a welfare state, a state that actively looks after its people.
Example
In Charan Lal Sahu v. Union of India (1990), the Supreme Court relied on parens patriae to uphold the Bhopal gas claims law. That law let the government represent the gas victims in pursuing their claims. In Aruna Shanbaug (2011), the Court used the same idea to act as guardian of a patient who could not decide for herself.