J. Sai Deepak

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

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.

Sabarimala
Deepak is most famous for his representations in the case on the entry of women to Sabarimala Temple. He argued against the entry, stating that the Hindu deity Ayyappan observes naishtika brahmacharya ("lifelong celibacy"). He further argued that the deity is a living being and thus can avail the constitutional rights of religious liberty and freedom of religion granted by Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court allowed women's entry into the temple in a 4:1 verdict, with Justice Indu Malhotra, the only female judge on the bench, dissenting.

Deepak 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. Deepak argued that the norm was not caste discrimination, as Brahmins from other regions were also not allowed into the Sabarimala priesthood; he argued that this was the rule ordained by the deity and thus constitutionally protected by Articles 21 and 25, among other provisions. The case is still pending before the Kerala High Court.

Deepak represented the Travancore royal family for their right to manage the estates of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Deepak used scriptures (eg. the Kerala Mahatmya), historical documents and agreements entered into by the royal family to prove that the takeover of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple by the Kerala government was illegal. The Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of the family.

Miscellaneous
A sub judice case Deepak is involved in is the public interest litigation (PIL) against the marital rape exception in the Indian Penal Code. Deepak argued that the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 already provides recourse for victims of marital rape, and that any further legislation on the issue needs to come from the Parliament, because the judiciary does not have the power to create new laws. The Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict which agreed that the Parliament had jurisdiction over the issue; the petitioners filed an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court.

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. The Justice had cancelled the arrest of Gautam Navlakha, who had allegedly contributed to the incitement of the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence. Deepak argued that Ranganathan merely supported the right of the Justice's critics to criticize him as part of their freedom of expression, and that Ranganathan himself did not agree with the criticisms. The Delhi High Court closed the proceedings against Ranganathan.

Deepak is also the counsel for the royal family of Kashi in the case demanding a constitutional review of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which freezes the status of all disputed religious structures as they were before Independence Day (15 August 1947).

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.

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. He opposes the Dravidian movement and Periyarite thought, and claims they are Western interventions in Southern Indian societal faultlines. 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. 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.

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

Books

 * India That Is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution. New Delhi: Bloomsbury. 2021. ISBN 978-93-5435-249-2.
 * India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilisation. New Delhi: Bloomsbury. 2022. ISBN 978-93-5435-301-7.