‘I’m inclined towards the weak’

One of his classmates at the Harvard Law School became defence minister of Sri Lanka, some became ambassadors, some senior judges of the country, one secretary of the Commonwealth of nations, but Girish Patel, 76, chose to represent the poor and oppressed sections of society in various courts. As he was felicitated for his commitment, DNA met this legendary, yet very down-to-earth, human right activist who used the tool of law to bring in changes in society and sensitized people about the problems of the deprived sections of society. The  veteran lawyer has a great sense
of humor, which has made his  life-long struggle possible and full of satisfaction.

Childhood
I am born to a middle-class family. My father, Chhotalal Patel, was a sanitary inspector in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. We were a family of eight - my parents, four sisters and two brothers. We lived in a rented house at Khadia. As is the wont of middle class, we had some facilities and had to go without others. We used to get milk, but in turns.

While we had mangoes in the season, we could not afford to buy a newspaper at that time. So, I used to wake up early to read the newspaper of my neighbour before he  woke up. We had no electricity at home as our landlord was reluctant to give permission for it. I was a very introvert person and never used to talk much in public, or even in family. Thus, I developed the hobby of reading, which helped me a lot.

Education and interest in law
I had to study in the light of lantern and oil lamps. But I was very good at study and was second to none from class I to LLM. In my board exam, I topped in my school and stood second in Ahmedabad city. But since I was not interested in Medicine, I joined inter science in Gujarat College.

I was the topper in first year, but somehow lost interest in science afterwards and joined inter arts. I studied economics, English, history and political science. But I had a very close friend - N B Patel - who was one year senior to me. He joined LLB after inter college, so I also joined LLB course, and went on to complete LLM.

I wanted to study in Harvard Law School (HLS) in the US, but had no money. So, I wrote a letter to the HLS asking for application forms for a  course suitable with my qualifications. They considered my letter as an application and offered me full scholarship for the course.

Career as a teacher, a lawyer
At heart, I am a teacher. I like teaching, so from 1958 to 1964 I taught at a college and after that, till 1972, I became principal at Maneklal Nanavati Law College at Lal Darwaja. Then I was appointed a member of law commission of Gujarat, member of Academic Council and also dean of the law faculty of Gujarat University. However, lack of liberty in the academic career and my desire to fight for the poor and deprived led me to join Gujarat high court as a lawyer in 1984.

From the beginning, I had decided I would not appear in a case against the poor, dalit, minority and woman. Similarly, it was clear to me that I will not take a case for the government. I got offers to practise law in the US, which I declined. Somehow, I am inclined towards oppressed people, be it dalits, women, minorities, child workers. I fought several cases against legal experts such as Soli Sorabji, Ram Jethmalani, Cooper, Venugopal and Shanti Bhushan. We lost some cases, but won some important ones.

Life as an activist
I have taken active part in public movements like Maha Gujarat and Navnirman. I thought by becoming a lawyer, I can fulfil my socialist aspirations. I was influenced by Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia’s socialist ideology during my college days. I had also read Karl Marx. But, I have leftist-democratic political view. I opposed emergency but I was not with the people opposing it.

Even after that, I never associated myself with any socio-political pressure group or NGO. I have fought for the oppressed people with the tool of Public Interest Litigation, initiated by Justice Bhagwati in 1980s. I had my own to conduct legal practice and it surprised many in my time. I think I was a pioneer in the way I showing people how to use law for helping the poor and saving their human rights.