Ashwini Upadhyay

Ashwini Upadhyay is often referred to as the PIL man of India. The acronym PIL stands for Public Interest Litigation. He was the founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but later got expelled from the Party on charges of Anti-Party activities. He is an Advocate known for filing a plethora of PILs in Court. After being expelled from the Aam Aadmi Party, he joined the BJP by saying that the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi extremely influenced him. He has also been the spokesperson of the Party, often defending his party position on the National Television channel. He had quit his job to join India Against Corruption under the aegis of Anna Hazare. He was active and deeply engaged in the protest that took place in Delhi against corruption.

Background

Ashwini hails from Uttar Pradesh, particularly from Prayagraj. He was born in the Phoolpur district, which falls under the Prayagraj jurisdiction. His father was a school teacher, and his grandfather served as a Gram Sevak in his constituency. He completed his primary education at a school located in his village. He cleared his matriculation in 1988. He had many leading advocates present in his village, but his father wanted him to pursue engineering. Upadhyay, in his anecdote, shared that he had received his education under the shadow of a Mango tree. Later in his life, he became an electrical engineer, where he worked in the automobile company unit. The name of the company was Maruti Suzuki. However, he was disinterested in the job; therefore, he finished his law education in 2002 and received his law degree from Chaudhary Charan Singh University. His wife got a job as a teacher in a government school, so she took the responsibility of managing the home. So, he turned his attention towards the profession of Law.

Updhayay has remarked that he is deeply influenced by icons like Babasaheb Ambedkar, Deen Dyal Upadhyay, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. He fought for the implementation of the Right to Information Act.

About PIL in Brief

PIL stands for Public Interest Litigation. This concept is inspired from the American Jurisprudence. It is referred to as litigation filed in a court of Law for the protection of public interests that includes Road Safety, corruption, public health, etc. The scope of the litigation is very comprehensive. Often, these litigations filed by individuals are trivial and often become a burden for an already over-burdened judiciary.

PIL Man of India

This name (PIL Man of India) is given to Ashwini Updhaya because of the barrage of PILs that were filed in the Court by him. Even the Court has reprimanded and slammed him for filing irrelevant PILs in the Court and wasting the time of the Court. However, sometimes, the Supreme Court has taken note of the PILs and passed certain directions in that regard. The number of PILs that are pending in the Supreme Court stands at 125, and in the Delhi High Court, it is about 25.

The topics of the PIL include Abrogating Article 370 and 35A, declaration of Polygamy, sharia court, and nikah halala null and void, implementation of Uniform Civil Code, and declaration of Hindus as minorities in the eight states. The PIL issues covered him are the issues that are larger objectives of the ruling Party. These issues are highly polarising in nature and have some relations with the BJP. However, some of the PILs are positive, denying entry to criminals in politics, expeditious disposal of criminal cases against politicians, parties manifestos legally enforceable documents, enacting population control law, ban on Triple Talaq (eventually Triple Talaq was declared void by the Apex court and subsequently parliament brought a law to enforce the ban and punishing the individual who professes the practice), Deportation of Rohingya Muslims and illegal refugee that have taken shelter in India (This agenda is akin to the ruling National Party (BJP). The list continues.

Brief Stint with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Ashwini Upadhyay was a founding member of the AAP, which is the ruling Party in Delhi and Punjab. The Party emerged from the movement India against Corruption, captured the imagination of Delhites and India, and formed the Government. Other founding members of the AAP were Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, and Anand Kumar. Many of these founding members disassociated themselves from the Party, citing several reasons. Updhayay has closely worked with Arvind Kejriwal (CM of Delhi) and Manish Sisodia (Deputy CM of Delhi).

He was expelled from the Party on the charges of Anti-Party activities, and Ashwini has alleged that AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, has come under a secret pact with the Indian National Congress. Party has served a show cause notice to him, and he failed to respond to the notice. Denied the ticket for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, he termed Arvind Kejriwal a liar and CIA agent (Central Intelligence Agency). He reiterated that the purpose for which the AAP was formed is lost, and people feel cheated. After being expelled from the AAP, he joined the BJP and was placed as National Spokesperson in the Delhi BJP unit.

Association with BJP

Following the expulsion from AAP over his alleged Anti-Party activities, he joined the BJP. BJP is a principal opposition party in Delhi and the ruling Party in the Centre. Upadhyay had remarked that the vision of Narendra Modi influenced him. BJP had made him the spokesperson for the BJP in the Delhi State Unit.

India Against Corruption Movement

He quits his job to join the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement. He was also one of the leading faces of the movement. He has petitioned in the Court to strengthen the Lokpal Bill and Lokayukta Bill. It was one of the key demands of the movement that the Lokpal Bill should be enacted and strengthened.

The movement lost its momentum and died down due to its split in the opinion of key members. Some of the members had felt the need to enter into politics to eliminate corruption from the system. However, some of the leaders opined that protests and movements are the best way to force the Government to act on the corruption issues and resolve the matter. Hence, the AAP was founded as a political party.

Controversy Related to Ashwini Upadhyay

Ashwini Upadhyay has also been framed as a "serial litigator." Critics term him using judicial tools to implement the broader agenda of the Bhartiya Janta Party. The Delhi Police arrested him from Jantar Mantar for making a provoking and controversial statement. Later, he was given bail by the Court and denied any involvement in making inflammatory statements.

His PILs have also been controversial, and even the Supreme Court has expressed anguish over the PILs. Critics allege that these PILs are filed for the purpose of grabbing media attention and remaining relevant in the news. Some of the issues in the PIL filed by him are deeply.

Conclusion

Ashwini Upadhyay is a leading advocate in the country who fought in the Supreme Court. His name appears in the news for its groundbreaking PIL. Some of them have a positive impact on the society and polity of our nation. His PILs have laid the foundation of several legal reforms through judicial directives and oversight. He had also been part of the Anna Andolan that brought him into the public eye and also paved the way for entering formal politics. He was briefly associated with the AAP, and later, his relationship with Arvind Kejriwal turned acrimonious. As BJP Delhi State Unit Spokesperson, he has fiercely voiced his opposition towards the AAP Government and highlighted the failure of the BJP.

His journey from a rural village in Uttar Pradesh to the apex court of India is inspiring and motivating. However, he also became a source of controversy for the view that he held against minorities, particularly Muslims. Critics allege that PIL is used as a judicial weapon to implement the nefarious and sinister agenda of BJP and RSS.