Before passing into that phase of his life during which he dedicated himself to the liberation of India from British rule, Gandhi practiced law for twenty years, at first briefly and unsuccessfully in India and then for a substantial period and quite successfully in South Africa before giving up the practice and ...
It was only when the hand of destiny guided his steps to South Africa that he soon made his mark there as a lawyer and as a public worker. Gandhiji practised as a lawyer for over twenty years before he gave up the practice of the profession in order to devote all his time and energy to public service.
In April 1893, Gandhi aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be the lawyer for Abdullah's cousin. He spent 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and politics.
UCL Faculty of Laws1888–1891Samaldas Arts College1888–1888Mohandas Gandhi High School1880–1887Honourable Society of the Inner TempleMahatma Gandhi/Education
an attorneyHis involvement in the non-violent movement in South Africa had made such an impact that even now, he is looked up to as a leader there. From 1893 to 1914, Gandhi worked as an attorney and a public worker.
When gandhi opened his law office in Johannesburg in 1903, it was a time of new beginnings for the thirty-three-year-old lawyer. His Durban practice was behind him, as was his struggle to establish himself in India. It was also a time of new beginnings for the Transvaal.
He won numerous cases in Mufassil Courts and his confidence was uplifted. He was advised by his friends and well-wishers to settle in Bombay only and practice at the High Court. He got a number of cases to work on and he triumphed in most of them.
In 1891 Gandhi passed the law examination successfully, but was assailed by doubts and anxieties. He had read the law, but could he practise it? He found it hard enough to speak to strangers in a small party.
He says Gandhi's severe stage fright made the start of his career publicly presenting cases rather rocky. “In fact in one of his first cases in India where he tried to launch a practice and failed, he had to basically withdraw from the case because he was too nervous in court!” DiSalvo remarks.
At first, he tried to become an 'English gentleman' but after a few months realized that he had to cut his expenditures and gave up most of his new habits. Besides his law studies he passed the University of London matriculation examination in June 1890.
UCL Faculty of LawsMahatma Gandhi / College (1888–1891)The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London, itself part of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. Wikipedia
Although Gandhi was interested in becoming a doctor, his father hoped he would also become a government minister and steered him to enter the legal profession. In 1888, 18-year-old Gandhi sailed for London, England, to study law. The young Indian struggled with the transition to Western culture.
Gandhiji always used to tell his friends and clients that truth triumphs and one must always follow the path of truth and non-violence. His dependence on truth always proved to be a boon for him in and outside the courtroom. He was honest not only to the Court but to his clients as well.
In 1893, Gandhiji obtained a contract to perform legal services in South Africa for one year and he went to Durban. When Gandhiji arrived in South Africa, he was disappointed by the racial discrimination faced by Indians at the hands of white British authorities.
In Johannesburg, while appearing for a case, Gandhiji noticed that his client had misled him and provided him with wrong facts. He scolded his client and immediately requested the Court to dissolve his case there and then only, which shocked the opposite Counsel. The Judge praised the morals and ethics of Gandhiji.
Gandhiji denied to move to the back of the train and in the fullness of time, he was thrown off the train at a station in Pietermaritzburg.
Gandhiji's father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a Chief Minister in Porbandar and other States in Western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a religious woman.
He would never shy away in accepting his mistakes and would never hide any ignorance of the law, if he had any, to his clients. Gandhiji used to discuss and deliberate about the intricacies of laws with his colleagues and seniors which helped him to effectively analyse and grasp laws of different kinds.
Though the award of the arbitrator was in favour of Gandhiji's client, there were some errors in the accounts. Gandhiji's Senior Lawyer who was also engaged in the matter wanted the errors not to be identified before the Court but Gandhiji took an exception to his Senior's notion and argued the case himself.
Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, western India, Gandhi trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891.
Gandhi enrolled at Samaldas College, Bhaunagar, in 1887 but left after one term. However, he was encouraged to go to London to study law and he left for London on 4 September 1888.
Gandhi goes to South Africa to work for a Muslim Indian law firm. Gandhi agrees to travel to South Africa to help a Muslim Indian law firm with a lawsuit. He is shocked by the racial discrimination he finds there when he learns he is not allowed to travel in the first class section of the train.
Born in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948. Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production.
Gandhi calls for widespread civil disobedience in demanding complete self-rule, leading again to widespread movements in India. He arrives in London to represent Indians in discussions about the future of India’s independence. This will be his last visit to Britain.
Gandhi was in the courtroom, telling the judge he would except the biggest penalty possible. The Salt March against the British. He is referring for Hindu/Muslim Violence.
He was called to the Bar – the ceremony in the dining hall of the Inn of Court at which successful students are presented with their certificates and are thereafter allowed to practise law – on 10 June 1891 and was enrolled at the High Court on the next day. He sailed for home the day after that.
1. Mahatma Gandhi sailed for England on 4th September, 1888 to study law and become a barrister. He kept terms at the Inner Temple and after nine months' intensive study he took all his subjects in one examination which he passed. He was called to the Bar on 10th June, 1891 and was enrolled in the High Court of England the next day. A day later, he sailed home. After his return to India he started practice as a lawyer at first in the High Court at Bombay and a little later in Rajkot but did not make much headway in the profession. It was only when the hand of destiny guided his steps to South Africa that he soon made his mark there as a lawyer and as a public worker. Gandhiji practised as a lawyer for over twenty years before he gave up the practice of the profession in order to devote all his time and energy to public service. The valuable experience and skill that he acquired in the course of his large and lucrative practice stood him in good stead in fighting his battles with the South African and British governments for securing political, economic and social justice for his fellow-countrymen. Gandhiji was not a visionary but a practical idealist. As Sir Stafford Cripps has remarked: "He was no simple mystic; combined with his religious outlook was his lawyer-trained mind, quick and apt in reasoning. He was a formidable opponent in argument." 1
Gandhiji went to South Africa in April 1893 and stayed for a whole year in Pretoria in connection with the case of Sheth Dada Abdulla who was involved in a civil suit with his near relative Sheth Tyeb Haji Khan Mahammad who also stayed in Pretoria.
Appendix II contains select thoughts of Gandhiji on the law and the lawyers. Appendix III contains the text of the speech of the late B. N. Gokhale, ex-judge of the Bombay High Court at the symposium organized by the Bombay Branch of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi on 1-7-1963 in which he dealt with Gandhiji's legal philosophy.
Appendix VII contains the order issued by the Benchers of Inner Temple on 10th November 1922 disbarring Gandhiji and removing his name from the roll of barristers on his conviction and sentence to six years' imprisonment on 18th March 1922 by the Court of the Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad.
If there was one characteristic more than another that stamped Gandhi as a man amongst men, it was his extraordinary love of truth. The Mahatma was an ardent and inveterate votary of truth. Truth, like nonviolence, was the first article of his faith and the last article of his creed.
The prevailing note was one of sadness. It was realized, of course, that Gandhi had been conducting the most dangerous campaign, that that campaign had resulted in considerable bloodshed and disorder, and that one course and one only was possible, viz., the course which had been adopted.
It also gives an account of the farcical political trials held in the Punjab in 1919 during the Martial Law regime, when several innocent persons were sentenced by special courts to death or life-imprisonment on the flimsiest of evidence.
South Africa, he left due to it's staunch racism towards Blacks, Coloureds/mixed and Indians.
In 1893, Gandhi worked as a lawyer in South Africa. He accepted a one-year work contract with an Indian company that operated in Natal (South Africa).
describe the condition of prince klemens von metternich in Document C. How does this political cartoon reflect the historical context of the period?
Despite these contradictions, Gandhi wasn’t a lawyer simply by training, giving up practice in a few years because of disillusionment, intent on doing greater things – it was something he stuck at for a very long time, moving countries and continents to find a way to make it work.
MK Gandhi had made this same agent’s acquaintance when he was in London, so Laxmidas cajoled Gandhi into interceding with him on his behalf. But while the agent agreed to meet Gandhi, he was not impressed by what he saw as an attempt to abuse their acquaintance, and told Gandhi to leave.
In addition to the contribution of the Dada Abdulla case to Gandhi’s idealisation of truth, it changed the way he approached disputes in general. Rather than fight the case out in court which would involve more time and expenses, Gandhi thought it would be better to tackle the case in an arbitration.
After failing to establish himself in Bombay, Gandhi was forced to return home to Rajkot (his family home was in Porbandar but the household was based in Rajkot). Here, through the influence of his brother’s partner (the two of them had a small legal practice), he was able to do “moderately well” for himself, drafting petitions for clients in civil matters – though oral arguments in court were still beyond him.
The Bombay High Court is one of the most beautiful courts in the country, famed for its neo-Gothic architecture and a favourite among legal interns looking for an impressive selfie. Take a trip to its courtrooms over the years and you’d be witness to arguments from some of the most famous names of the Indian bar, from Badruddin Tyabji to Ram Jethmalani, and from Nani Palkhivala to Indira Jaising, by way of Fali Nariman.
Gandhi’s autobiography talks about the problems he faced in Rajkot because of a case where his brother, Laxmidas, who had been secretary and advisor to the ruler of Porbandar before he ascended the throne, was accused of “having given wrong advice when in that office.”.
Dada Abdulla was suing his cousin Tayob Haji Khan Mahom ed for a sum of 40,000 pounds sterling, which the latter owed the former. An oil painting of a young MK Gandhi with Dada Abdulla, by Kishorebhat Thanki, now in the Gandhi Smruti Kirti Mandal in Porbandar.