Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad

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Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad
AbbreviationABAP
Formation7 September 1992
Founder Dattopant Thengadi
Type Umbrella organisation
Legal statusActive
PurposeActivism
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Region served
India
Parent organisation
 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Affiliations Sangh Parivar
Website www.adhivaktaparishad.com

The Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABAP) (English: All India Lawyers' Council) is a right-wing Indian umbrella organization of lawyers associated with the right-wing Hindutva organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The ABAP is often described in the media as the "RSS' legal front." [1] The organization states that it advocates for reform of the Indian judicial system that aligns with Hindu traditions. [2]

Contents

The ABAP was founded in 1992 by Dattopant Thengadi, a Hindu nationalist thinker, social activist, and labor leader who also founded the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. [3] [4]

History

The Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABAP), established in 1992, is a national organization of lawyers in India committed to promoting a legal system rooted in Indian cultural values and traditions. It aims to foster a judiciary that upholds dharma, national unity, and social justice, while ensuring that legal practices remain accessible and ethical. Inspired by the ideology of cultural nationalism and often seen as ideologically aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ABAP organizes legal awareness camps, professional development seminars, and national conferences for advocates and law students across the country. The organization advocates for the Indianization of the judiciary, the use of Indian languages in legal proceedings, and reforms that make the justice system more citizen-centric. With its presence at the district, state, and national levels, ABAP continues to work toward bridging the gap between the legal system and the common citizen. It also engages with law reform processes and contributes to public legal discourse through publications and memoranda submitted to government bodies. [5]

Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad is a national organization of lawyers with branches in all Indian States and Union Territories. These branches are connected through local state-level lawyer groups. [6]

Activities

Nyaya Kendra

The Nyaya Kendras are legal aid centers established by ABAP to make justice accessible to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society. [2]

ABAP organizes Legal Awareness Camps to inform people about their individual or collective rights as citizens. [2]

Educational Initiatives

ABAP regularly organizes National, state, district, subdivision, and court-level seminars, symposiums, and workshops. Court units also hold periodic study circles under the guidance of senior advocates, with the cooperation of junior advocates. These focus on specific statutes, their application, new Bills, amendments, or other relevant issues. [2]

Public Interest Litigation

ABAP has used PIL to intervene on behalf of vulnerable groups, including Scheduled Castes and Tribes, farmers, informal sector workers, and women. The Parishad typically does not file these cases in its name. Local activists and organizations are represented, assisted, and guided by advocates from the Parishad. [2]

Study and Research Group

Similar to the court unit study circles, study and research groups are formed at the State and National levels to examine Bills, new or amended Acts, Laws, and Rules.

The ABAP publishes a quarterly bilingual magazine called 'Nyaya Pravah'. [7]

National Conventions

The ABAP has held fifteen national conferences. [8] The fourteenth conference in 2015 was attended by then Minister of Law and Justice Sadananda Gowda of the Bharatiya Janta Party. [9]

Prominent members

References

  1. 1 2 ‘Santosh Hegde headed lawyers' wing of RSS', The Hindu, 11 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "About – adhivaktaparishad" . Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Graham, Bruce Desmond, ed. (1990), "The Jana Sangh as a Hindu nationalist rally" , Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics: The Origins and Development of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Cambridge South Asian Studies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 94–157, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511558825.006, ISBN   978-0-521-05374-7 , retrieved 6 May 2025
  4. ↑ Dasgupta, Koushiki (6 December 2019). Electoral Politics and Hindu Nationalism in India: The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, 1951–1971 (1 ed.). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003003861-4. ISBN   978-1-003-00386-1.
  5. ↑ "AKHIL BHARATIYA ADHIVAKTA PARISHAD". AKHIL BHARATIYA ADHIVAKTA PARISHAD. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  6. ↑ "Nayapravah– adhivaktaparishad".
  7. ↑ "Nyayapravah – adhivaktaparishad" . Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "adhivaktaparishad – Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad" . Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Speech Of Hon'ble Minister Of Law And Justice At The 14th National Conference Of Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad On 27th December, 2015 At Bengaluru" (PDF). lawmin.gov.in.
  10. ↑ "The Tree, The Branches". Outlook. 27 April 1998. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
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