Dix, who calls the rescue opertaion a ‘modern miracle,’ says that law should enable things like infrastructure and not be used for settling scores.
A “miracle” is how Australian engineer Arnold Dix likes to describe the recent rescue of trapped miners in Uttarkashi.
Dix, along with a host of others, was a part of a team whose bravery saved the lives of 41 men who had been trapped in Uttarkashi’s under-construction Silkyara tunnel for 17 days.
What many don’t know about Dix, who has been heralded by the Indian media as a hero for his efforts, is that he also practices law back home.
In an exclusive interview with Bar & Bench’s Aamir Khan, Dix feels that the law is a “servant of the people” which should enable things like infrastructure and not just be used for suing each other or putting everyone in prison.
AD: I am a real lawyer. I’ve always practiced in technical, scientific and engineering law – where there’s an overlap between legal and technical. In the area of underground construction, for example, I initiated and was part of a new form of contract that was created by an organisation called FIDIC (a federation of consulting engineers) – the FIDIC ITA (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association) contracts for underground works.
I’m part of the formulating new contractual arrangements for fairer apportionment of risk, particularly in the underground. This is a good example of what’s happened here. Should we force a contractor to charge a particular amount based on a design that’s provided by a client? Or should we use different mechanisms within a contract to allow for adjustments depending on ground conditions encountered and how those ground conditions might be different to what we expected?
I offer a lot of advice on what standards should be applied. For example, here in India, is it really appropriate that within a contractual framework you call upon an international technical standard if the manufacturing sector and the regulatory environment is different?
There should be a domestic set of standards because of India’s unique circumstances, both in terms of its technical excellence and its economic position as an emerging superpower.
AK: Could you take us through your legal career?
AD: I am a barrister of the High Court of Australia. I’m a member of the Victorian Bar and a former partner at law firm DLA Piper. Up until recently, I was special counsel to the law firm White & Case out of Paris.
I am actually a real lawyer, but I do real engineering you see. So there’s a bit of who am I?
I see law as a servant of the people. For me, the law should enable things like infrastructure. It shouldn’t be everybody suing everybody and putting everyone in prison.
It should be a tool to maintain standards and ensure that the economic machinery of a country works efficiently through its contractual mechanisms and dispute minimisation mechanisms. I gave legal advice to the Ministry of Power probably 15 years ago on the contractual arrangements for disputes in hydro projects here.
I don’t look like a lawyer. I don’t behave like a lawyer, but I actually am one. I’m really into human rights law as well. We’re all born equal and that we should have access to justice.
Aamir Khan (AK): So many lives were saved after an intense rescue operation. It must feel rewarding.
Arnold Dix (AD): I’m feeling very happy and full and content. I’m at peace with the world today. I’m very happy.
AK: At what point did you get involved in the rescue? When did you arrive here?
AD: When the collapse first occurred, I heard from my colleagues here in India. Something that people don’t fully understand or appreciate us underground people is that we all know each other around the world. We all watch out for each other. We share ideas.
And so I had a call from the federal government and from a guy who I know and trust enormously – a very good engineer – and they explained the problem and we discussed some strategies about how the rescue could proceed. So that was day one, and then a few days after that, things weren’t going so well.
I spoke to him and someone else in the federal government and they said, please come to India. And then I just came. There was not even anything in writing, there’s no complex memorandum. This is just how we in the underground work. We look after each other.
