But as he talked with his friends and the lawyers in Delhi, and as he went over their petition, and their plan to fight the case in Supreme Court, Jadob began feeling a little optimistic. Perhaps, he thought, the judges would see through the government data, the reports by the police, the expert articles, and would see the truth hidden in all this. Perhaps, thought Jadob, the highest court in the land would have some kind of sympathy for the Gonds. He knew that lower courts certainly would not, and he had no expectations from officials like Behera or policemen like Patnaik. But perhaps, somewhere in the Supreme Court, justice still lurked? So Jadob decided to sit quietly in a corner and listen to the arguments.

But it was not an easy fight for the lawyers who were arguing the case on the side of Jadob and his friends. The ‘bench’ of three senior judges had many questions for them, and many other questions for the government.

That the Gonds had been living in the villages around Devi Hills for a very long time was quite clear to everyone, and even the state government did not deny it. So the judges did not talk much about it at all.

That the Gonds also owned houses and land in the villages was clear, too, and Jadob’s lawyers submitted all these documents to the judges anyway.

The problem was, what should the land be considered as? Jadob’s lawyers said it was forest land, but it was also true that the forest department did not look after the hill. Under the old system, the hill was taken care of by the Gonds, because it was sacred land but, said, Jadob’s lawyers, it was still a protected forest. The lawyers told the court the government was wrong to declare the forest was not protected. And because it was sacred to the Gonds, the central and state governments were also wrong to hand it over to the Company which would dig it up.

Sitting in court, silent, Jadob thought the lawyers were arguing the case well. The whole idea, as he had told his friends, was to show that the Gonds had a right to the land, and should thus be given a chance to decide what was to happen to the land.

In their reply to this, the government lawyers said the mine would give jobs to the Gonds, and they were very poor, and needed jobs. And the mine would produce aluminium, which the country needed. So everyone would be happy. Jadob knew the government’s argument would be based largely on this. He also knew his own lawyers would have to convince the judges that, while the Gonds were certainly poor, the mine was not the only solution.