Kareena Eugene
On 30th April 2021, Soli Sorabjee, veteran lawyer, former Attorney General and Padma Vibhushan recipient, passed away in the morning after getting infected with the Corona virus.
Sorabjee was admitted to a private Hospital in Delhi. He was 91 when his death was announced by his family members.
Soli Jehangir Sorabjee was born in 1930, in Mumbai. In 1935, he started his legal practice in Bombay High Court. He was designated the counsel of the Supreme Court thereafter, in 1971. He held his position as that Attorney General of India first in 1989-90 and then in 1998-2004.
Sorabjee was involved in many cases like defending the freedom of speech and expression and has been instrumental in revoking censorship orders and bans on publications.
His publications on the same include: The Laws of Press Censorship in India (1976), The Emergency, Censorship and the Press in India.
Sorabjee was a passionate human rights lawyer and was appointed a United Nations Special Rapporteur for Nigeria in 1997. In March 2002, Sorabjee was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award for his defence of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.
President Ram Nath Kovind paid his respect to Sorabjee by stating that, “In the passing of Soli Sorabjee, we lost an icon of India’s legal system. He was among the select few who deeply influenced evolution of constitutional law and justice system. My condolences to his family and associates.”
