Soli Sorabjee, one of India’s best legal luminaries, dies of Covid
NEW DELHI: Soli Sorabjee, 91, a former attorney general of India, passed away on Friday at a hospital in New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment for Covid-19.
Decorated with India’s second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2002 for his promotion of freedom of speech and human rights, Sorabjee was associated with a series of landmark judgments.
Sorabjee joined jurist Nani Palkhivala and veteran lawyer Fali S Nariman to fight the Keshavanand Bharti case in the Supreme Court that in 1973 led to the legal doctrine of “basic structure” of the Constitution. It was the only time a bench of 13 judges, the full strength of the apex court at the time, sat to decide a case. The 1973 judgement, by a majority of 7:6, said amendments to law should not alter the “basic structure” of the Constitution.
Sorabjee was the petitioner’s lawyer in the famous SR Bommai case, which resulted in the Supreme Court’s 1994 verdict that held the power of the President to dismiss a state government is not absolute and subject to judicial review. He was also involved in the Prakash Singh case in which the top court directed the Centre to appoint the National Police Commission and paved the way for significant police reforms. In 1971, the Supreme Court designated him as senior counsel. He served as the attorney general of India from 1989 to 1990 and then 1998 to 2004.
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana paid homage to Sorabjee. “In his nearly 68-year long association with judicial world, he made immeasurable contribution in enriching the global jurisprudence of human rights and fundamental rights.” the CJI said.
NEW DELHI: Veteran lawyer and former attorney general Soli Sorabjee passed away on Friday morning after contracting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Sorabjee was 91. He was admitted to a private hospital in Delhi.
Sorabjee, a Padma Vibhushan recipient, began his legal practice in 1953 in Bombay High Court and he was designated senior counsel of the Supreme Court in 1971. He became the attorney general of India first from 1989-90 and then from 1998-2004. He was appointed by the United Nations as a Special Rapporteur for Nigeria in 1997 to report on the human rights situation in that country. Following this, he became a member and later chairman of the UN Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights from 1998 to 2004.
He was a champion of freedom of speech and expression and had defended freedom of press in many landmark cases in the Supreme Court and had been instrumental in revoking censorship orders and bans on publications. He was honored with the Padma Vibhushan award--the second-highest civilian award in India in March 2002 for his defence of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.
Paying tributes to noted jurist Soli Sorabjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he was an outstanding lawyer and was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden through law.
Modi tweeted, “Shri Soli Sorabjee was an outstanding lawyer and intellectual. Through law, he was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden. He will be remembered for his noteworthy tenures India’s Attorney
General. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers.”
In a condolence message to the family members of Soli and his well-wishers, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, offered his last respect and said, “My deepest respect to the departed soul. Condolences to the family, friends, and fans.”
“Soli J Sorabjee served the office of Attorney General of India twice with great distinction. His humane and compassionate approach defined his legal work. His body of work, spread over nearly seven decades, in defending fundamental rights and human rights is of international repute. He will be remembered as a legend who added strength to the pillars of democracy,” CJI Ramana said.
The present Attorney General (AG) K K Venugopal, speaking to ANI, said that he was one of the finest lawyers and a champion of freedom of speech and expression.
“He was a man of great ideas and a believer and a champion of freedom of speech and expression,” Venugopal said, adding that he knew Soli since 1979.