The Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABAP); (English: All India Lawyers' Council) is a right-wing Indian organisation of lawyers associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It is often referred to as the "RSS lawyers' wing." It aims to work for a judicial system which is "in harmony with the genius of the nation and in consonance with Bharatiya traditions."
It was founded in 1992 by the Hindu nationalist thinker and social reformer Dattopant Thengadi.
History
The ABAP has its genesis in the national emergency of 1975–77, which suspension of civil rights, censorship of the press, and mass incarceration of political and social activists. During this time, various regional legal organizations were formed, including the Nationalist Lawyer's Forum in West Bengal in 1977.
Later, in Maharashtra, the Junior Lawyers Forum was formed in Nagpur in the 1980s. In Kerala, the Bharatiya Abhivasaka Parishad was formed in 1987 at Ernakulam. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, Adhivakta Parishad Uttar Pradesh was formed in 1992.
Finally, on 7 September 1992, with the efforts of Dattopant Thengadi and other lawyers, the idea of the Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad as an umbrella organisation for all the like-minded regional lawyers' organisations working, which became affiliated to the ABAP. Later, state units of the Adhivakta Parishad were formed in other states.
The Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad was formally constituted in Delhi on 21 and 22 April 2001 and was registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 at the office of the Delhi Registrar of Societies on 4 May 1992.
Organizational structure
The founding members of the ABAP included H. R. Khanna, E. Venkat Ramaiya, Rama Jois, Jitender Veer Gupta, Guman Mal Lodha, U. R. Lalit, and Ram Jethmalani. National Level: There is a National Executive of the Parishad consisting of the President, vice-president, General Secretary, Organising Secretary, Treasurer, Secretaries, Zonal Secretaries and Members. Further, there is a National Council of the Adhivakta Parishad which is the highest policy and decision-making body in all matters pertaining to the Constitution, Organisation, finance and other activities of the Parishad. All the members of the National Executive and 7 members from each State Level Constituent Organisation, affiliated with the Parishad, constitute the National Council. State Level: Every State Level Constituent Organisation, affiliated to the Parishad, has its State Executive body. District committees are formed under the guidance and approval of the State Executive Committee. For a large district, Sub-Divisional Committee may be formed under the guidance and approval of the District and State Committee. Individual Court Units are formed and function under the guidance and approval of the District and State Committee. These Court Units are the micro-level units of the Parishad. Further, to make the organisation gender inclusive and truly representational, pursuant to the conference of women Advocates in Indore, the Adhivakta Parishad resolved that in each functional unit one vice president, one joint secretary and two executive members shall be women. This is apart from women occupying the posts of President, General secretary in some states and local units. Every three years a National Conference is held where thousands of advocates from all over the country participate. The National Council meets every two years, whereas the National Executive, wherein the General secretaries of all the state units are special invitees, meets every year.