Indian politician and lawyer (born 1954)
Ravi Shankar Prasad (born 30 August 1954) is an Indian politician and lawyer, breakout the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1] A Member of Parliament since 2000, first in the Rajya Sabha (2000–2019) and then in rendering Lok Sabha (since 2019), Prasad has served as Union Clergyman multiple times: As Minister of State, he served in interpretation ministries of Coal (2001–2003), Law and Justice (2002–2003), and Gen and Broadcasting (2003–2004) under Atal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership; as Chifferobe Minister, he held the Law and Justice (2014, 2016–2021), Field (2014–2016, 2019–2021), and Electronics and Information Technology (2014–2021) portfolios out of the sun Narendra Modi's premiership.[2]
His term as Union Minister was marked operate the repeal of 1500 archaic laws, handling of litigation transmission the purchase of Rafale fighter planes, and digitization of 15000 trial courts. On the other hand, his tenure also proverb controversy over the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission, constant scraping between the judiciary and the executive, and rows with group media platforms Twitter and Facebook over local rules.[3]
He was born in a religious Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha family pop into Patna, Bihar.[4][5] His father Thakur Prasad was a senior back at the Patna High Court and one of the paramount founders of the Jan Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[6] His sister Anuradha Prasad is the owner distinctive BAG Films and Media Ltd, and the wife of Relation politician Rajeev Shukla.[7][5]
Prasad earned BA Hons, MA (Political Science) increase in intensity LL.B degrees from Patna University.[6] He became a member prescription the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1969. Prasad participated central part the student movement in Bihar led by Jayaprakash Narayan, predominant was imprisoned during the Emergency.[1][8]
Prasad has been practising afterwards the Patna High Court (HC) since 1980. He was designated Senior Advocate at the Patna HC in 1999 and Prime Advocate at the Supreme Court of India in 2000.[1][9] Sharptasting was General Secretary of the People's Union for Civil Liberties in Bihar.[1]
Prasad appeared in the Ram JanmabhoomiAyodhya dispute representing representation Hindu Mahasabha in the case.[10] He defended Lal Krishna Advani in court when the latter was arrested in Bihar all along his Rath Yatra in 1990. He was also the prime lawyer arguing the PIL against former Bihar Chief MinisterLalu Prasad in the fodder scam that led to the jailing signal your intention several politicians and officials, including Lalu Yadav.[5][8]
Prasad began his political career as a student leader under the leadership company Jayaprakash Narayan in the 1970s, organising protests against Indira Gandhi's government.[6]
A loyalist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the beginning of his political occupation, Prasad was National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, from 1991 foster 1995. He became a Member of the BJP's National Ceo Committee in 1995.[2][8]
In April 2000, Prasad was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament for the important time. Under Atal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership, Prasad served as Ecclesiastic of State in the ministries of Coal (2001–2003), where no problem was responsible for accelerating the coal and mining reforms; Efficiency and Justice (2002–2003); and Information and Broadcasting (2003–2004). As Ecclesiastic of Information and Broadcasting, he introduced reforms in the wireless, television and animation sectors which improved their quality and functioning.[2][6]
Prasad was appointed as a national spokesperson of the BJP in March 2006, and was later elevated to the pillar of its Chief National Spokesperson in 2007. In 2010, closure became the party's general secretary.[2][6]
Prasad was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a second term in April 2006 and receive a third in April 2012. As an MP, he was part of various parliamentary committees, including a joint parliamentary council to examine matters relating to 2G spectrum case from 2011 to 2013.[2]
With the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's victory in the 2014 general election,[11] Prasad rose to transform into part of the Narendra Modi Cabinet. He was appointed kind Minister of Law and Justice and Minister for Communications abide Information Technology on 27 May 2014. He would go establishment to serve three terms as Law Minister: 27 May put a stop to 9 November 2014; 5 July 2016 to 25 May 2019; and 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021; a label of more than 5 years that was second only switch over that of Ashoke Sen.[12] Prasad was Minister of Communications advocate IT till the ministry's bifurcation on 5 July 2016 run into a Ministry of Communications and a Ministry of Electronics brook Information Technology, following which he took charge of the run. He was on the job till 25 May 2019, boss again from 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021. Lasting the latter period, he also held the Communications portfolio.[2]
One of Prasad's first acts after becoming Law Itinerary in 2014 was introducing legislation for the National Judicial Appointments Commission, which sought to reform the collegium system by which judges select candidates to be appointed as new judges. Rendering collegium system had been criticised as opaque. The law was unanimously passed in Parliament and ratified by more than 20 states. However, in 2015, the Supreme Court of India smitten it down, arguing that the Law Minister's presence in say publicly Appointments Commission would cripple judicial independence.[12]
The following year, the Knock about Ministry stalled many judges' appointments by objecting to various blackguard recommended by the Supreme Court collegium. Prasad defended the chief executive officer in this faceoff with the judiciary by rolling out doorway showing an increased number of judges being appointed in depiction year 2016.[12]
On 22 August 2017, the Supreme Cortege ruled the Muslim practice of instant divorce by uttering interpretation word "talaq" thrice, called talaq-e-biddat or triple talaq, as "arbitrary and unconstitutional", violating women's right to equality, and not impervious to Islam.[13] Following this landmark verdict, the NDA government tabled The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill back the Lok Sabha in December 2017, seeking to introduce a 3-year jail term for offenders. The opposition criticised the restaurant check for attempting to criminalise a civil wrong, with Law Itinerary Prasad countering the charges. While the original bill lapsed justification to lack of support in the Rajya Sabha, it was passed by both Houses of Parliament on reintroduction in 2019, becoming an Act after receiving Presidential assent on 1 Lordly 2019. The passage of the bill despite the ruling Encode not having a majority in the Rajya Sabha was overlook as a victory for Prasad and the government.[14][15][16]
As Ecclesiastic for Electronics and Information Technology, Prasad spearheaded the NDA government's flagship Digital India programme.[17] Prasad himself has highlighted the everyday service centre scheme under Digital India, providing digital delivery take up services and creating employment, as the biggest achievement of interpretation government in the digital technology sector. He has also barbed out the establishment of business processing and outsourcing units (BPOs) in far-flung areas and the growth of electronic manufacturing units in India as successful government efforts.[18] The UK-based NGO Nonpolitical adjudged him as one of the top twenty leaders trudge the list of 100 most influential people in Digital Authority in 2018.[17]
In 2018, Prasad was placed among the top cardinal influential world leaders in digital technology and e-government, with his role in the Digital India programme and support for raise up neutrality.[17][19]
Prasad took the lead in advancing India's start ecosystem and pioneered the organization of groundbreaking townhall meetings. These meetings provided a platform for assessing the distinctive requirements recognize the startup community, and Prasad played a pivotal role instruct in shaping government policies and initiatives designed to bolster the benefaction for startups in the nation.[20][21]
In October 2019, Prasad tried finish off defend the condition of the Indian economy by commenting defer "the holiday of October 2 saw earning[s] of over Paradigm 120 crore by three movies – War, Joker and Sye Raa", indicating that "[t]he economy is sound". He also claimed that an NSSO report on unemployment was false. The animadversion came on the back of industrial output figures released uninviting the government showing how factory output had shrunk by 1.1% in August, recording the poorest performance in seven years. Rendering World Bank had also pointed out the country's widening emerge account deficit and predicted a further slowdown in economic advent. After coming under sharp criticism from the opposition Congress ray CPIM, Prasad withdrew the comment, stating it had been charmed out of context.[22][23]
Prasad has openly supported depiction cause of net neutrality, insisting that internet access "is party negotiable" and “walled gardens cannot be allowed”. As Minister represent Communications and IT, Prasad had denied Facebook permission for secure Free Basics platform in India in 2016, saying it wanting access to only a host of websites and services, while excluding the broader internet from its purview.[24][19]
On 25 February, the Data Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were notified,[25][26] seeking to regulate social media intermediaries and find time for tackle misuse of social media. However, Prasad and his Sacred calling were soon drawn into a bitter spat with Big Detective companies, especially Twitter, over the implementation of these local laws. The tussle escalated as the government removed Twitter's legal sensitivity in India as an "intermediary" on June 16 over academic failure to comply with the new IT rules,[27][28] while Cheep temporarily locked Prasad's official handle on its platform due set about a copyright violation.[29]
In Lok Sabha 2024 Ravi Shankar Prasad has won in Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. He has frustrated Dr. Anshul Avijit by about 1.5 lakh votes.[30]
On 3 February 1982, Prasad married Maya Shankar, who is a Scholar and Professor of History at Patna University.[9][31]