The Full Form of PUCL is People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR).

Jayaprakash Narayan was a Gandhian leader in India after independence. When Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court, Narayan called for her to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation. He asked the military and police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders. However, Janata Party opposition leaders and dissenting members of Indira Gandhi’s party, Congress (I) were arrested, beginning The Emergency in 1975. Narayan was detained at Chandigarh, and when released in 1976, formed the PUCLDR to oppose the suppression of civil and political rights during the emergency. The organization was thrown into disarray by his death and the election of the Janata party to power, which promised to enact the PUCL platform.

Narayan originally intended PUCL to be an organisation free from political ideologies, bringing those concerned about defending civil liberties and human rights from different backgrounds onto a common platform. According to the PUCL, the PUCLDR was a loosely organised group of people who were working with Narayan, a prominent figure in the Indian Opposition in the 1970s.^[3]