Patel said the entire movement on such issues dies down following the court order, which generally falls in the favour of the present trend of globalisation in India.

He said the higher judiciary is making the Constitution of India adaptable to globalisation.

Patel was addressing a public gathering at the Town Hall in Ahmedabad on Sunday, where a group of social workers, academicians, trade union activists and lawyers felicitated him for his contribution towards the movement of human rights and civil liberty in Gujarat.

Reacting to his appeal, senior high court advocate Bhushan Oza said: “He must have tried to reflect that since the judges are coming from a different social and political background and the trends in judiciary are changing, the expectations with which the poor go to the court may not be fulfilled. And therefore, it is better that people have their own strength.”

“I would say that one must be aware of what he is expecting

from judiciary. As, there are certain things which you can get from court and certain things that you cannot get,” he added.

Another HC advocate Mukul Sinha said: “What he (Patel) meant was that since there is so much of delay in the justice delivery system that leads to denial of justice to the poor, people should opt for alternate redressal of disputes. Especially, the marginalised should go beyond courts for their collective rights. I totally agree with what he said.”

A number of public figures like Raman Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy and retired high court justices A P Ravani and R A Mehta were present at the function, which was organised under the banner of Girishbhai Patel Sanman Samiti (GPSS).

Felicitating Patel with a memento and a cheque of Rs 3 lakh, the GPSS also released three books on him. First book contains Patel’s letters to the editors written to various newspapers, the second contains his experiences related to the PILs filed in the Gujarat High Court, and the third contains articles written by various people on him.

Patel is known for his efforts to safeguard the human rights of the marginalised by utilising the tool of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) ever since it came into practice. Patel has filed more than 200 PILs in the