Ashwini Upadhyay

Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay is a practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court of India and a leader of the Bharatiya Janta Party Delhi unit. Upadhyay was a senior engineer at Maruti Suzuki. In 2011, he quit his job to join the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and subsequently joined the newly formed the Aam Aadmi Party of which he was one of the founder members.[1]

Personal life

Ashwini Upadhyay was born on 17 March 1975 in Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh. He studied at Government school in the city. After this he studied law at Chaudhary Charan Singh University. After completing his law course he started practicing law at the Supreme Court. He is married to Mrs Neeta Upadhyay and together they have two sons.[2]

Politics

Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay an active member of the India Against Corruption movement was one of the founder members of the newly launched Aam Aadmi party in November 2012 following the Janlokpal movement. In March 2014, he sent a list of questions to party chief Arvind Kejriwal seeking clarity on several issues of concern including ticket distribution and funding from Ford foundation.[3][4] In April 2014, he accused Kejriwal of diverting from the 'real issues' and forming a secret alliance with the Congress party while positing to be rival to them publicly. Upadhyay also claimed people close to Ford foundation were given election tickets. He even went on to accuse Kejtiwal of being a CIA agent.[5][6] AAP denied the allegations and expelled Upadhyay over involvement in anti party activities.[7][8] Subsequently, in November 2014, he joined the BJP along with several other AAP members. Upadhyay cited the influence of PM Narendra Modi and his vision for the nation as the reason for joining the BJP.[9] He is an active lawyer at the Supreme Court, he is known for his pursuit of various socio political issues.[10] In 2016, he wrote a letter to Delhi CM to ban the sale of alcohol in the state.[11] Upadhyay has also helped other political leaders raise important issues through PILs. In June 2018, he helped Delhi MLA Kapil Mishra file a PIL against CM Arvind Kejriwal for his low attendance in the assembly and functioning of the house.[12] Upadhyay has been actively pursuing the cause of population control legislation for which he has met several BJP and RSS leaders explaining that no constitutional amendment was required for introducing the population control bill.[13] Through his PIL in August 2021, he has been instrumental in ensuring no criminal cases against MPs and MLAs are withdrawn without the permission of the High Court of the concerned state.[14]

Public Interest Litigations

Ashwini Upadhyay is known for regularly filing PILs pertaining to domains social, legal, governance and wide range of other issues. So much so that once the Delhi Court remarked how many petitions he has to file. He has a unique distinction of filing over 50 PILs in a span of 5 years.[15] Continuing his pursuit for the Janlokpal movement, in 2018 Upadhyay filed a PIL regarding state level appointment for the Lokayukta for which the Supreme Court took note and asked for explanation from 12 states and union territories.[16] He has filed several PILs pertaining to electoral processes. One such PIL seeks Election Commission to restrict parties and candidates whose election has been nullified or declared void from participating in fresh polls. Another PIL seeks the disqualification of candidates who seek votes in the name of caste, religion, community. Further in another PIL by Upadhyay prepared in collaboration with Advocate Vijay Hansaria, he seeks the appointment of special courts to prosecute corrupt political leaders. Another PIL by Upadhyay asked for making the manifestoes of political parties as legally enforceable documents[17][18][19][20] On family issues Upadhyay filed PIL seeking a Uniform Divorce Law for women. In another one he seeks the Supreme Court to ban the practice of polygamy and nikah halala in the Muslim community.[21][22] Challenging the RTE act, Upadhyay also filed petition demanding a common curriculum for madarssas and vedic schools.[23] In 2019, he filed a petition for the protection of non naga ethnicities in the commercial town of Dimapur following the ILP system.[24] In 2018 he filed a PIL seeking a cap of Rs 2000 for donations to political parties. However the Supreme Court reprimanded Upadhyay for meaningless PILs warning him of a ban if this trend continued.[25] In May 2021, a PIL was filed for two child policy to control the population explosion in the country. He sought the introduction of population control law and also made MOHFW a party to this PIL.[26] Upadhyay has challenged certain sections 2,3 and 4 of the Places of Worship Act 1991.[27] In January 2022, Upadhyay filed a petition to deregister parties that do not file details of criminal activities of their candidates.[28] In February 2022, following the suicide of a school girl Lavanya in Tamil Nadu alleging pressure to convert to Christianity, Upadhyay filed a PIL to regulate deceptive religious conversions.[29] In March 2022, Upadhyay made a plea in the Supreme Court for identifying minorities at state level. This meant the Hindu community would be eligible for minority status in at least 10 states of India.[30] In April 2022, Upadhyaya filed a plea in Delhi HC challenging the constitutional validity of the Wakf board.[31]

References

  1. Jain, Ritika (2021-08-10). "Explained: Who Is Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay Ex BJP Spokesperson | BOOM". www.boomlive.in. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  2. "कौन हैं अश्विनी उपाध्याय ? हमेशा विवादों से रहता है जिनका नाता -". 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  3. Desk, India TV News (2014-03-13). "Dissident AAP member Ashwini Upadhyay sends questionnaire to Kejriwal". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  4. "Importance of advocate Ashwini Upadhyay - Kashmir Times". www.kashmirtimes.in. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  5. "'Members associated with Ford Foundation given AAP tickets'". Rediff. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  6. Preeti (2014-03-09). "Arvind Kejriwal is a 'CIA agent', 'liar': Rebel AAP member Ashwini Upadhyay". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  7. "AAP expels Ashwini Upadhyay, who levelled charges against Kejriwal". The Indian Express. 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  8. Indiablooms. "AAP expels Ashwini Upadhyay | Indiablooms - First Portal on Digital News Management". Indiablooms.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  9. "AAP founder member Ashwini Upadhyay joins BJP". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  10. "PIL filed in Supreme Court against freebies by political parties". Deccan Herald. 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  11. Reetu (2016-06-23). "Ban alcohol in Delhi: BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay writes to CM Kejriwal". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  12. "Rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra Sues Arvind Kejriwal for 'Low' Attendance in Delhi Assembly". News18. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  13. Desk, Sentinel Digital (2019-12-06). "BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay resurrects Sanjay Gandhi to curb population - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  14. "SC Bars Withdrawal Of Criminal Prosecution Against MPs/MLAs Without Permission Of High Court". Legal Articles in India. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  15. "50 pleas in 5 years for 'PIL man'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  16. "SC seeks explanation from 12 states, UTs on appointment of Lokayukta". The Statesman. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  17. "DNA Explainer: What if NOTA gets majority in an election? SC seeks reply from Centre, EC". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  18. "Disqualify candidates using religion to get votes: Fresh PIL in Supreme Court". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  19. "Fix special courts to try tainted netas: Supreme Court". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  20. "PIL in SC seeks steps to regulate poll manifesto, make them legally enforceable". Firstpost. 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  21. "SC to hear plea seeking 'Uniform Divorce Law' for all women, issues notices to Centre". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  22. "Plea seeking ban on nikah halala, polygamy in SC". DNA India. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  23. Jha, Prashant. "Common syllabus for Madrasas and Vedic schools: Delhi High Court issues notice to Centre in Ashwini Upadhyay plea". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  24. Singh, Soibam Rocky (2019-06-23). "Plea in SC seeks protection for non-Nagas in Dimapur". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  25. ANI (2018-11-12). "SC raps advocate Ashwini Upadhyay for filing 'meaningless' PILs". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  26. "PIL on two-child norm: SC allows plea to implead MOHFW to be a party". ca.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  27. "Constitutionality of the Places of Worship Act". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  28. "Assembly polls 2022: Plea in SC to deregister parties not divulging criminal cases of candidates". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  29. Lawstreet. "[Lavanya Death Case] PIL Filed by Ashwini Upadhyay in SC Against Forceful Religious Conversions [Read PIL]". Lawstreet.co. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  30. "Hindus can be granted minority status in 10 states: Centre tells SC". Zee News. 2022-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  31. "PIL in Delhi High Court challenges constitutional validity of Waqf Act". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
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