Surendra Gadling
Surendra Gadling is a human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist based in Nagpur.
Personal life
Surendra was born into a Dalit family in Indora, a slum community in Nagpur. He lives in Bhim Chowk with his wife, two children and mother.Work
Surendra started his career as an apprentice in the railways.He is known for taking up cases of illegal killings, police excesses, fakes cases, and atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis in Gadchiroli and Gondia districts. He is considered to be an expert in special laws like UAPA, the The [Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006|Forest Rights Act], Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.
He represented Arun Ferreira between 2007 and 2012. Until his arrest, he was handling the case of G.N. Saibaba, a Delhi University professor and wheelchair user who was jailed for alleged Naxal links. Advocate Mihir Desai took over the case from him.
He is known to take up most of his cases pro bono.
Activism
While working as an apprentice in the Railways, Surendra started the Awhan Natya Manch, which would organise cultural evenings in the bastis of Nagpur and engage in conversations around rights and oppressions.Gadling was part of an independent fact-finding team that probed the encounter killing of 40 alleged Maoists by the police in Gadhchiroli in April 2018.
He was a member of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights and CRPP.