Former Attorney General For India Soli Sorabjee Passed Away

Former Attorney General for India and veteran jurist, Soli Sorabjee passed away on Friday morning, aged 91.

"Shri 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 the fundamental rights and human rights is of international repute. He will be remembered as a legend who added strength to the pillars of democracy. I pay my deep respect to the departed soul. Condolences to the family, friends and fans," said CJI NV Ramana today.

Born in 1930 in Bombay, Soli Jehangir Sorabjee began his legal practice in the year 1953 at the Bombay High Court. He was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India in 1971. He became the Attorney General of India, first from 1989-90 and then from 1998-2004.

Sorabjee is a renowned human rights lawyer. He was appointed by the UN as a Special Rapporteur for Nigeria, in 1997, to report on the human rights situation in that country. Following this, he become a member and later Chairman of the UN-Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, from 1998 to 2004. He is a member of the United Nations Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities since 1998. He has also served as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 2000 to 2006.

Sorabjee was also involved in many cases for defending the freedom of speech and expression and has been instrumental in revoking censorship orders and bans on publications. His publications on this subject include: The Laws of Press Censorship in India (1976); The Emergency, Censorship and the Press in India, 1975-77 (1977).

In March 2002, he was honored with the Padma Vibhushan award for his defense of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.

He has appeared before the Supreme Court in certain landmark cases like Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978), SR Bommai v. Union of India (1994), BP Singhal v. Union of India (2010), etc.

The above details are taken from Brandeis University website