Ukel Foundation to Launch in Ahmedabad, Taking Legal Awareness Beyond the Courtroom

Ahmedabad is set to witness the formal launch of Ukel Foundation on September 27, with the event scheduled from 9 AM to 11.45 AM at the AUDA Auditorium in Shela. Nearly 1,000 guests, including advocates, educators, social leaders and representatives of Gujarat’s NGO community, are expected to attend.

Incorporated on September 3, 2025, as a Section 8 company, Ukel Foundation takes its name from the Gujarati word Ukel, meaning solution.

AUDA Auditorium, Shela ahead of the Ukel Foundation launch. — Legal awareness is often most valuable before a dispute reaches a courtroom.

The organisation describes its mission as bridging the gap between law and society by making legal knowledge more accessible to citizens. Its work will initially focus on Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, with plans to expand across Gujarat through legal awareness campaigns, mediation support and community engagement programmes.

A Legal Initiative With a Community Focus

The Foundation is the brainchild of Advocate Pratik R. Patel, Principal Advocate at Nyaay Niyam Chambers, who practises before the Gujarat High Court, District Courts and Revenue Courts.

According to the Foundation, Patel has mediated more than 150 family and property disputes and advised over 200 landowners on land acquisition matters. This experience has shaped Ukel’s emphasis on resolving disputes outside the courtroom wherever possible.

“Ukel Foundation was born out of a simple belief that the law should not feel distant or intimidating to the people it is meant to serve,” said Pratik ahead of the launch.

Taking Legal Literacy to Communities

The Foundation’s stated areas of work include dispute prevention and legal literacy through comic books and workshops in local languages. It also plans to develop ‘litigation-free’ community models in adopted villages and promote community-level dispute resolution as a way of reducing the burden on courts.

Pratik Patel of Ukel Foundation — Ukel Foundation aims to take legal awareness beyond the courtroom and closer to communities. – Pratik Patel

The idea is to move legal awareness beyond courtrooms and legal offices and into communities where people often encounter the law without necessarily understanding how it works.

Meet Ukel Bhai

The September 27 launch will also mark the unveiling of Ukel Bhai, the Foundation’s mascot and the friendly face of its legal awareness campaigns.

The organisation will also announce its founding Board of Directors, comprising figures from the legal, administrative and civil society sectors.

The launch event is by invitation, with invitations extended to government dignitaries, members of the legal fraternity and civil society organisations across Gujarat.

For Ukel Foundation, the September 27 launch is therefore more than the formal beginning of an organisation. It is an attempt to take the language of law closer to the people it is meant to serve.