COMMENTARY
he and his co-activists were sidelined.
Social Activist and Catalyst
for Justice
Girish Patel (1932–2018)
Darshini Mahadevia, Ghanshyam Shah
Girish Patel used his immense
knowledge of law to fight legal
battles for the marginalised, and
set up the Lok Adhikar Sangh
to play a supportive role in the
movements for social and
political justice.
Darshini Mahadevia (d_mahadevia@yahoo.com)
is a professor at CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Ghanshyam Shah (ghanshyam.shah2008@
gmail.com) is a retired professor, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, Delhi.
18
G
irish Patel, a prominent presence
and voice in the radical section
of Gujarat’s civil society, human
rights lawyer and social activist, breathed
his last on 6 October 2018, at the age of
86 years.
Girishbhai, as he was popularly known,
was the son of a sanitary inspector in the
Ahmedabad municipality. His career be-
gan in 1958 as a professor in one of
Ahmedabad’s law colleges. He went on to
study at the Harvard Law School where
he got his Master of Laws degree and
also learnt about the vast philosophical
aspects of law. He then studied at The
Hague Academy of International Law. In
1964, he returned to Ahmedabad and
joined the teaching profession, becoming
the principal of a law college and also a
member of the university senate. In 1972,
he became a member of the Gujarat State
Law Commission where he served for
three years. Later, in 1975, he started his
law practice in the High Court of Gujarat.
Radical Stance
As a teacher, he actively supported the
university teachers’ union which had
then engaged in a struggle against the
established vested interests and corrupt
practices in education. With several other
teachers, he also supported the 1974
students’ (Navnirman) movement. It inti-
ally had a radical agenda on price rise
and starvation. The first stage of the
movement succeeded in ensuring that
the then Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel,
stepped down. Girishbhai, however, was
keen that the movement must transcend
then existing political party structure,
must aim at restructuring of society, the
creation of different forms of political
and economic organisations for partici-
pation. But, a majority of the teachers
and students were not interested in re-
structuring the society. This meant that
OCTOBER 20, 2018
Later, he realised that reactionary forces,
including the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad, began occupying centre stage
in the movement. Though it did not turn
outright communal, he once observed
that the movement’s disintegration pro-
vided “a fertile ground for the emer-
gence of an organised or fanatical party”
(Patel 2002). That was the reason why
he was not an enthusiastic supporter of
the JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement.
While opposing the Emergency, like
many other left-oriented activists, he
rejected the dichotomy between the civil
and democratic rights of the deprived
sections. These rights were “not simply
bourgeois illusions,” he said and argued
that the have-nots needed them more
than the rich and the powerful. He ass-
erted that the struggle for civil, political
and democratic rights, and the struggle
for social, economic and cultural rights
are one—integral, invisible and inter-
dependent. The human rights of all can
become real, effective and meaningful
only in a democratic state, economy and
society, Patel argued (2009). With this
perspective, he along with a few other
like-minded activists formed the Lok
Adhikar Sangh (LAS) in 1977 to fight for
basic human rights of the poor and the
deprived in Gujarat. The LAS assumed its
role to be a supporter of ongoing social,
political and economic rights movements
rather than directly engaging in a mobi-
lisation of the masses.
Confronting Civil Society
He combined social activism by partici-
pating in social movements for rights
with legal fights in the courts. In the early
1980s, he supported land rights strug-
gles of tribals in Valia and the Dangs
in south Gujarat. The state and the
hegemonic civil society labelled the
area as “Chambal Valley” of dacoits and
Naxalites. Girishbhai was involved in a
fact-finding committee and later also
provided legal help to the tribal leaders
(Shah 2018). During the same period, he
opposed the anti-reservation agitation led
by the upper castes. Later, he actively
participated in the Narmada Bachao
Andolan (NBA) led by Medha Patkar
against the construction of dam on the
vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
 COMMENTARY

river Narmada. He was branded as period of time, he filed more than 200 his success had very limited value in con-
“anti-Gujarat” as a result of this. Girishbhai PILs on issues of shelter, rehabilitation, trolling pollution as industrialists with
confronted not only the government and minimum wages, livelihood, atrocities money power manipulated the legal pro-
dominant classes but also the civil society. on Dalits, Adivasis, women and so on. visions in their favour.
He countered self-styled rationalists quo His efforts were successful in releasing One of the PILs he filed was for sugar
modernists as well as mechanical Marxists around 300 bonded labourers, and also cane workers. Having read about the
who had faith in the doctrine of “historical providing relief to several workers for subhuman conditions of life of the sugar
inevitability, the unilinear progress of getting their dues in wages and other cane workers in south Gujarat, written
society and inherent superiority of the rights. He also succeeded in getting by a social anthropologist Jan Breman in
model of development-westernisation a court verdict that for all the rights, 1974 (translated in Gujarati in early
and industrialisation.” He repeatedly including that of minimum wages of 1986), on behalf of the LAS, he filed a PIL
emphasised the rights of tribals and other the contract workers, the “principal in 1987 demanding the enforcement of
have-nots to life, development, access employer” was considered responsible. all laws related to the Inter State Migrant
and control over natural resources, to In other words, a public sector entity Workmen (Regulation of Employment
participate in the decision-making pro- cannot shrug off its responsibilities with and Condition of Services) Act, 1979 in
cess and so on. He argued that right to regard to the workers’ rights by subcon- general and payment of minimum wag-
work includes the right to use of, access tracting certain tasks to private entities. es in particular. He won the case and the
to and command over resources. In regard to industrial pollution in Guja- court asked the sugar factories to pay
He often asserted that the true role of rat, with his efforts in the courts, he was the prevailing minimum wages to the
the judiciary was to further the demo- instrumental in focusing the attention of sugar cane workers. Then came the ques-
cratic revolution and he imaginatively the High Court of Gujarat, and thus the tion for the implementation of the order
interpreted various laws from the per- state government to the very high levels against the powerful landed lobby and
spective of subaltern so that the have- of industrial and chemical pollution indifferent government machinery. The
nots get relief if not justice. With the throughout the state, compelling some LAS had no data on factory and farm-wise
innovation of the public interest litiga- of the industrial estates of Gujarat to sugar cane workers involved in cutting
tion (PIL) in 1980, he was the first to file construct common effluent treatment sugar cane. These workers were getting
a PIL in the High Court of Gujarat. Over a plants. However, he soon realised that remuneration on a piece-rate basis, a

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Economic & Political Weekly EPW OCTOBER 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 19
COMMENTARY
quantum of work they did. It required
calculation of wages with a new formula.
But, the LAS had no wherewithal in terms
of people to ensure implementation of
the court order. He then mobilised local
activists to list the sugar cane cutters
and supervise the implementation of the
court order. With these efforts, nearly
one lakh sugar cane cutters collectively
received `3.5 crore more than what the
factories intended to pay (Breman 1990).
Other segments of civil society organi-
sations hardly took interest in the struggle.
They wanted to avoid confrontation with
the dominant classes. Sugar cooperative
factories have succeeded in manipulat-
ing the government administration and
the condition of workers remained more
or less the same. Unlike many activists,
Girishbhai was always self-reflective,
open to criticism and willing to work on
his mistakes. He later admitted that
it was an unplanned strategy on our part
with no sufficient experience or roots in the
field. We functioned in an action-reaction
mode, facing challenges as they came since
we could not foresee what would come up.
We wanted to involve the workers in our
action which also we tried but we did not
succeed. (Patel 2009)
No Dogmatism
He was not dogmatic in his approach.
While fighting a legal battle, Girishbhai
often tried to assess the courts’ attitude
and space within the legal system for the
deprived to get benefits for their survival.
For instance, in 2005, he advised the
activists engaged in preventing a large-
scale eviction of the slum dwellers because
of the Sabarmati Riverfront Develop-
ment Project to demand their rehabilita-
tion rather than challenge the validity of
such projects in the name of “develop-
ment.” Looking to the changed politics
and the inclination of the judiciary, he
felt that the court would not even admit
a PIL if it was to stop the riverfront pro-
ject. He, therefore, persuaded the activ-
ists to demand fair rehabilitation. The
PIL was admitted and the high court im-
mediately gave a stay on any eviction
without rehabilitation. On the court’s
directive the Ahmedabad Municipal Cor-
poration was compelled not only to pro-
vide alternative accommodation to the
affected people of the riverfront, but
20
also to appoint a representative of the claim with pride that Gujarat is forever “a
victims in supervision of the process path-breaker for India.” Will this turn out to
be true? (Patel 2002)
of rehabilitation.
According to him, he won a few cases He was greatly disappointed when this
and lost several or nothing happened in came out true in 2014.
many cases. He was not unaware of the While engaged in struggles, he fre-
limitations of a PIL to get justice for the quently felt the need to evolve “a common
poor. At the same time, on the whole, and comprehensive ideological frame-
in his view the experiences with legal work” to make human rights struggle a
battle through a PIL had not been “com- national people’s movement for human
pletely negative or totally disappointing rights of the oppressed and protection of
or frustrating.” His purpose was to use constitutional values against rising anti-
available space in the oppressive system democratic forces. He supported and
for the survival of the poor. It can act, encouraged a few young activists to
he believed, as a catalytic agent to rein- pursue the task of social justice. One of
vigorate mass consciousness for rights. them was the late Mukul Sinha, founder
At the same time, he conceded that the of Jan Sangharsh Manch who fought
dominance of propertied classes had the cases for the victims of the 2002
increased in the state as well as the judi- communal massacre. The poet–singer
ciary under the neo-liberal policy regime. duo Charul and Vinay, the founders of
In that situation, the PIL’s efficacy as a Loknaad give voice to the victims of
tool to actualise the rights of the mar- violence and exploitation, and express
ginalised was diminishing. vision of humane society for all. And,
Like several secularists, he was very Anand Yagnik, a lawyer fights legal bat-
disturbed by the 2002 anti-Muslim may- tles in the High Court of Gujarat on the
hem in Gujarat. In his angry reaction, issues of land acquisition, environment
he raised several questions to fellow and distress of farmers.
radical secularists:
References
Why this successful arrival of chhote Hitler
Breman, Jan (1990): “From Cane Fields to Court
in Gujarat? Why the macabre dance by the
Rooms: Legal Action for and against Rural
killers of the Mahatma Gandhi in the land of Labour in Gujarat,” Capitalist Development:
Gandhi himself? Why this Hindu tribalism Critical Essays, Ghanshyam Shah (ed), Bombay:
and medievalism in “naya Gujarat” in the Popular Prakashan, pp 270–88.
21st century? What is still more disturbing Patel, Girish (2002): “Narendra Modi’s One Day
and horrifying is the boast of the elites of Cricket: What and Why?,” Economic & Political
Weekly, Vol 37, No 48, 30 November, pp 4826–37.
Gujarat and the fear of those who are com-
— (2009): Public Interest Litigation and the Poor in
mitted to democracy, secularism and social Gujarat, Ahmedabad: Girish Patel Sanman Samiti.
justice, that “What Gujarat is today, India Shah, Ghanshyam (2018): Democracy, Civil Society
will be tomorrow,” as the former always and Governance, Delhi: Sage Publication.
Market Power and Competition Policy
September 22, 2018
Conflict between Regulation and Competition
Law in the Indian Telecom Sector —Vikas Kathuria
Challenges of Competition and Regulation in the Telecom Sector —Smriti Parsheera
Information and Communications Technology Markets:
Cases in Competition Law —Subhashish Gupta, Kalpana Tyagi
Internet Search Engines and Two-sided Markets:
Implications for Antitrust Analysis —Viswanath Pingali
Repurposing NSSO Data for Market Definition —Gaurav S Ghosh
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