J. Sai Deepak Explained

J. Sai Deepak
Birth Place:Hyderabad, India
Occupation:Lawyer, writer
Education:Mechanical engineering
Law
Alma Mater:Anna University
IIT Kharagpur

J. Sai Deepak (born 1985) is an Indian Hindutva activist, lawyer, and writer.[1] As a counsel, he practices before the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi.[2] [3]

Education

Deepak attended St. Anthony's High School, Hyderabad. He then graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University and completed law from IIT Kharagpur's Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law.[4]

Career

Deepak argued the case for the entry of women to Sabarimala Temple. He argued against the entry, stating that the Hindu deity Ayyappan observes naishtika brahmacharya ("lifelong celibacy").[5] He was also a counsel in a petition to allow priests of any caste to be priests at Sabarimala, the priesthood at the temple has historically been open to only Malayali Brahmins.[6] The Kerala High Court ruled in favor of the traditional practices.

Deepak represented the Travancore royal family for their right to manage the estates of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.[7] The Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of the family.[8] [9]

Deepak was the counsel for Anand Ranganathan in the contempt of court case against the former for endorsing the criticism of Justice S. Muralidhar by S Gurumurthy and Vivek Agnihotri.[10] The Delhi High Court closed the proceedings against Ranganathan.[11]

Views

Deepak writes two blogs, one named Yukti on constitutional theory and legal philosophy; and one named The Demanding Mistress on civil, commercial and intellectual property law. An article in the latter blog was cited by the Madras High Court in its decision on the TVS Motor Company vs. Bajaj Auto Limited intellectual property dispute.[12]

Deepak is a Hindutva activist. He believes that the several good qualities of the knowledge systems of ancient Hindu civilization, mixed with the good qualities of modern Education systems, can be a template for modern Indian education systems, which he considers to have multiple drawbacks.[13] [14] He opposes the Dravidian movement and Periyarite thought, and claims they are Western interventions in Southern Indian societal faultlines.[15] He was criticized for his article where he discussed limitations imposed by the Indian Constitution against Hindu majoritarian expression. He had criticized the provisions for Hindu majority authority being subject to judicial review and being overruled if it conflicts with constitutional morality.

Deepak's talks on the Karnataka hijab ban at St. Stephen's College, and on minority rights at Jamia Millia Islamia respectively, were cancelled despite receiving permission in what was termed by some journalists as the advent of cancel culture and deplatforming in India.[16] Deepak's talk on the Uniform Civil Code in Bengaluru at a Karnataka Bar Association event was faced with opposition from a group of lawyers who wanted the event to be cancelled in an attempted case of deplatforming, but it wasn't.[17]

Deepak has participated in multiple debates, the prominent ones being with Saurabh Kirpal on same sex marriage;[18] with S. Y. Quraishi and Manish Tewari on the Uniform Civil Code;[19] with Shashi Tharoor on decoloniality;[20] and with AG Krishna Menon and Sanjay Nirupam on nationalism.[21] Deepak is also a frequent orator, having spoken at multiple universities, as well as at literature and cultural festivals.[22]

Publications

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. Kunnummal . Ashraf . Islamic Liberation Theology and Decolonial Studies: The Case of Hindutva Extractivism . Religions . MDPI AG . 14 . 9 . 2023-08-22 . 2077-1444 . 10.3390/rel14091080 . free . 1080. Of the Hindutva propagandists who deploy decolonial studies, J. Sai Deepak is the only one who has written substantively on it..
  2. News: . Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala too has rights under Article 21, SC told . Indo-Asian News Service . 26 July 2018 .
  3. News: . Sabarimala case: Deity living person, has right to privacy, women devotees to SC . Indian Express . Mumbai . 27 July 2018 .
  4. News: . Iyer . Lakshmi . Small talk: The Deity's Advocate . Mumbai Mirror . 6 August 2018 .
  5. Web site: February 2019 . Written Submissions to the Supreme Court of India in the Sabarimala Temple Entry Case .
  6. Web site: 22 February 2023 . Written Submissions in the Vishnunarayan vs State of Kerala case .
  7. Web site: April 2019 . Written Submissions to the Supreme Court of India in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple Administration Case .
  8. Web site: Vishwanath . Apurva . 2020-07-13 . Explained: Padmanabhaswamy temple case, and what the verdict means for the Travancore royal family . 2023-10-04 . The Indian Express . en.
  9. Web site: 13 July 2020 . Sri Marthanda Varma vs State of Kerala . Supreme Court of India.
  10. News: . 'Am a free speech absolutist': Author Anand Ranganathan in contempt case . Indo-Asian News Service . 24 May 2023 .
  11. Web site: Thapliyal . Nupur . 2024-01-03 . Delhi High Court Closes Proceedings Against Anand Ranganathan In Criminal Contempt Case For Tweets Against Justice S Muralidhar . 2024-02-03 . www.livelaw.in . en.
  12. Web site: Madras High Court . 18 May 2009 . M/S TVS Motor Company Limited vs M/S Bajaj Auto Limited on 18 May, 2009 . indiankanoon.org.
  13. Web site: J Sai Deepak is wrong: Indian democracy is not Hindu will. Sijoria . Siddharth . 28 June 2023 . The Indian Express.
  14. Web site: Isolation, conservatism and buzzwords: What drives the lucrative market for right-wing influencers. Sen . Raj Shekhar . 24 July 2023 . newslaundry.
  15. Web site: T. Mayura Priyan . 2023-10-08 . Sanatana Dharma and the Dravidian Movement: A response to J. Sai Deepak — 2 – The Leaflet . 2024-02-12 . theleaflet.in . en-US.
  16. Web site: Kumar . Utpal . 2022-02-28 . The issue with St. Stephen's College isn't just confined to cancel culture; its very DNA is a problem . 2024-02-12 . Firstpost . en.
  17. Web site: Shukla . Suchita . 2023-09-01 . Karnataka Bar Council Ignores Demand By Lawyers' Organisation To Cancel Sai Deepak's Talk On UCC, Event Witnesses Huge Crowd . 2024-02-12 . www.verdictum.in . en.
  18. Web site: Menon . Vandana . 2023-07-20 . Can Parliament be trusted with LGBTQ rights? Star lawyers Sai Deepak, Saurabh Kirpal debate . 2024-02-14 . ThePrint . en-US.
  19. News: Bureau . The Hindu . 2023-08-06 . Debate without draft Uniform Civil Code is a non-issue, says ex-CEC S.Y. Quraishi . 2024-02-14 . The Hindu . en-IN . 0971-751X.
  20. Web site: Kabilan . Kannalmozhi . 2021-09-11 . The reality of the nationalism debate . 2024-02-14 . The New Indian Express . en.
  21. Web site: Decolonising India: Is Bharat trying to reinvent itself? . 2024-02-14 . India Today . en.
  22. Web site: 2022-12-18 . Those in power must be held accountable . 2024-02-14 . Star of Mysore . en-US.
  23. Sen . Anandaroop . 2023-05-04 . J Sai Deepak’s India that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution . Bloomsbury 2021 . Social Dynamics . en . 49 . 2 . 376–385 . 10.1080/02533952.2023.2236899 . 0253-3952. free .
  24. Valluvan . Sivamohan . Kapoor . Nisha . June 2023 . Sociology after the postcolonial: Response to Julian Go's ‘thinking against empire’ . The British Journal of Sociology . en . 74 . 3 . 310–323 . 10.1111/1468-4446.12995 . 0007-1315.
  25. Dann . Philipp . 2023-12-22 . Southern turn, Northern implications: rethinking the meaning of colonial legacies for Comparative Constitutional Studies . Comparative Constitutional Studies . en . 1 . 2 . 174–196 . 10.4337/ccs.2023.0016 . 2752-9665.
  26. Web site: Yadav . Yogendra . 2022-05-06 . India needs to challenge colonialism in its own language. But solution isn't Hindu worldview . 2024-03-03 . ThePrint . en-US.
  27. Web site: Kumar . Utpal . 2022-09-06 . How India, a victim of conflicting colonialities, is coming out of slumber to reboot its tampered mind . 2023-06-12 . Firstpost . en.
  28. Web site: Yadav . Yogendra . 2022-05-06 . India needs to challenge colonialism in its own language. But solution isn't Hindu worldview . 2023-06-12 . ThePrint . en-US.
  29. News: . Re-Discovering Bharat . Star of Mysore . 16 December 2022 .