At its 51st Foundation Day function, the famed engineering institution IIT Bombay felicitated one of its most distinguished alumni, Mr Colin H Gonsalves, Founder of Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLIC) and exemplary human rights lawyer, for his outstanding contribution to society and bringing honour to his alma mater with his path-defining works and achievements. Mr Colin H. Gonsalves, is a B.Tech (1975) from the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay. Mr Gonsalves began working as a civil engineer, but was drawn to the law through union work and concerns over labour issues and exploitation. In 1979, he started studying law at night school. While felicitating Mr. Gonsalves, his alma mater noted this about him: “Mr Gonsalves is a fighter for social justice and a champion of the exploited. He has fought against government and big business interests. The Socio-Legal Information Centre, founded by Mr Gonsalves, has built 28 litigation centres in India. Through this Network, he has represented children in danger, villagers on the brink of starvation, and prisoners rotting in jails without the due process of law. After hearing a petition filed by this Network, the Supreme Court directed central and state governments to implement several food security schemes.” Further, Mr. Gonsalves has argued before the court that Article 21 of India's Constitution enshrines the right to life, which can be broadly interpreted as the right to food, work and fair wages. Today, children in school get mid-day meals. Mr. Gonsalves pioneered public interest law in India by setting up a network of 200 lawyers around the country and is one of its most prominent human rights litigators.Disability laws, women's rights, domestic violence, child labour and sexual harassment issues have all been revisited by his growing army of public interest lawyers, who act as a frontline or the eyes and ears for the Socio-Legal Information Centre. Mr. Gonsalves was honored in 2004 by American Bar Association with the International Human Rights Award for his “extraordinary contribution to the causes of Human Rights, rule of law and promotion of Access to Justice.