M.K.

Gandhi’s
The Law and The Lawyers
Discussion
• Albert Einstein lauded Gandhi as “a leader of
his people, unsupported by any outward
authority, a politician whose success rests not
upon craft nor the mastery of technical
devices, but simply on the convincing power
of his personality.”
• Mahatma Gandhi, the man of the millennium is not just an
Indian phenomenon.
• As a serious thinker, moralist and humanist, he is an
international figure of ever growing stature in human history.
"Gandhism", "Gandhian Thought", "Gandhian Philosophy" and
"Gandhian Studies" have become important subjects of
Universities across the globe.
• The impact of his philosophy of non-violence in inspiring
leaders of the 20th century such as Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,
Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel is the
expression of a momentous mode of political thinking that can
be invoked as a Gandhian moment.
Gandhi was also a political saint, of an unusual kind: he
not only forged his own political vocabulary and
created a unique grammar of political action, but he
also worked across such a huge array of human
endeavours – among them journalism, education,
women’s reform, social reform, the language question
and the promotion of Hindi/Hindustani, cow
protection, Hindu-Muslim unity, eradication of
Untouchability, nutrition, sanitation, village reform,
not to mention the political independence of India and
the reform of political institutions -- that he had to
move beyond texts and tradition in his quest for truth.
• Gandhiji’s life and experiences have valuable
suggestions for legal education.
• No law teacher can ignore his contributions
while teaching right to disobey unjust
laws(Jurisprudence: Natural Law), International
Law (peace, non-violence), Constitutional
Law(Liberties, Civil Disobedience), law and
morality (Code of Conduct for lawyers),
Theories of punishment etc.
 Gandhi as a student of Law
• Industrious
• Facing new challenges without getting
demoralized
• Overcame the obstacle of mastering English
language
• Acquired knowledge of Latin
• Habit of reading from original texts rather than
notes
• Continuing education in the form of later
mastering Indian laws
Gandhi as a novice in legal practice
• "But not withstanding my study, there was no end to my
helplessness and fear. I did not feel myself qualified to
practice law.“
• "It was easy to be called, but it was difficult to practice at the
bar. I had read the laws, but not learnt how to practice law.“
• His first case at Bombay High Court ended in dismal failure
• Gandhi attained success in the legal sphere only in the case of
Dada Abdullah in South Africa
• Diligence, curiosity, humbleness, forthrightness, utmost
honesty were hallmarks of his legal practice
Ethics in the practice of profession
• “Often I knew that my opponents had tutored
their witnesses and if I only encouraged my client
to lie, we could win the case. But I always
resisted the temptation…In my heart of hearts I
always wished that I should win only if my client’s
case was right … I warned every new client at the
outset that he should not expect me to take up a
false case or to coach the witnesses with the
result that I built up such a reputation that no
false cases used to come …”
 Policy matters/ADR
• Gandhiji believed that the true function of a lawyer
was to reunite the parties riven asunder. He advised
his clients to settle the matters out of court as far as
possible.
• He never made winning or losing a case a pre-
condition for variance in his fee
• During his tenure in the profession, he managed to
bring about compromises in hundreds of cases
• The issue of wearing a turban/head gear gave him a lot
of publicity and the decision outlined his analysing
processes in larger debates and policy decisions.
 Attempting consonance between
disobedience and obeying the laws of the
land
• Gandhi started his public career in South Africa by
leading the Indian community residing over there on
the issues of deprivation of right to vote, forced
return of indentured labourers to their home land,
compulsory registration and payment of 3 pound tax,
de-recognition of marriages based on ceremony
without any civil procedure etc.
• Gandhi sought to build a unified atmosphere even
though the Indian community in South Africa was
heterogeneous
• He believed that when fighting injustice, the
actor must not only have the courage of
his/her opinions but also be ready to give
his/her life for the cause. As writer George
Woodcock says, “The idea of perishing for a
cause, for other men, for a village even, occurs
more frequently in his [Gandhi’s] writings as
time goes on. He had always held that
satyagraha implied the willingness to accept
not only suffering but also death for the sake of
a principle.” 
 Non-violence and Civil
Disobedience
• In other words, Gandhi’s main concern is not with
ahimsa as kindness and gentleness. He is talking of
non-violence as a brave act of dissent. “My non-
violence is not merely kindness to all living
creatures,” wrote Gandhi in his journal Harijan.
“Ahimsa is the highest ideal. It is meant for the
brave, never for the cowardly. To benefit by others’
killing and delude oneself into the belief that one is
being very religious and non-violent is sheer self-
deception.”
 Gandhi as the accused in judicial
trials
• Always pled guilty
• Did not seek or appoint defense attorney
• Delivered a speech or a written statement
comprehensively putting forth his view
• Many judgments laud his gentlemanliness and
civility
• Gracefully accepted the verdict
• Wanted to be treated at par with fellow
protesters, no specialized treatment
 The Great Trial
• Charged under Section 124A of IPC
• Gandhi’s oral and written statement
• Acceptance of charge of spreading disaffection
• No rights as a man because I was an Indian
• drainage of economic wealth
• Deprivation of rightful employment
• Precedent of judgment in the trial of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak
 Role of lawyers in satyagraha
• Gandhi envisioned a leadership role for
lawyers in the freedom movement
• Deviced model code of conduct for lawyers
• Pointed out how lawyers could improve legal
administration
• Pointed out the evils inherent in the system
• All lawyers need not be leaders, they could be
silent workers also
• Necessity of access to law at a low cost
Examination of trials conducted before
the Punjab Martial Law Tribunals
• Many cases where:
• A. the indictment was not read out to the accused
• B. The prosecution witnesses were paid for
testimony
• C. The defense was not fully examined
• D. The very harsh usage of section 121 of IPC/section
124A of IPC/Rule 25 of Defense of India Act with
punishment of death sentence/
transportation/confiscation of property as the
reward
Multifarious themes touched upon
in the text
• Gandhi’s metamorphosis from a white elephant to a
Mahatma
• Gandhi’s understanding of legal practice –
“It was not impossible to practice law by compromising
truth”
• The balance between journalistic obligation and
maintaining the sanctity of a sub-judice matter
• Refusal to render perfunctory apology
• Spiritualizing the profession by not making legal
practice subservient to the interests of the purse.
 Gandhi’s ideas for the future
• Gandhi’s desire to have the highest appellate
court in India
• His blueprint of a Federal/Supreme Court
• “I have found that it is our first duty to render
voluntary obedience to the law, but whilst
doing that duty, I have also seen that when
law fosters untruth it becomes a duty to
disobey it.”