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 Forest Rights Act, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. 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. On 6 June 2018 he was arrested by the Pune Police, along with four others- Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut. They were accused of having Maoist links and were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). On 8 June 2018, he was moved from police remand to judicial custody on account of his deteriorating health condition, after he was moved to Sasoon Hospital in Pune.