Former Attorney General of India and renowned jurist, Soli Sorabjee passed away at the age of 91 due to Covid -19.
He served as the Solicitor General of India from 1977 to 1980 and as the Attorney General for two terms- from December 1989 to December 1990 and from 1998 to 2004. He was considered to be one of the most prominent human rights lawyers of the country who fought many high profile cases.
He joined the bar in 1953 and was designated as senior advocate of the Bombay High Court in 1971. He was involved in the biggest Constitutional law cases in the country including the landmark case of Kesavananda Bharati in 1973 on the basic structure of the Constitution and the Maneka Gandhi case in 1978 that expanded the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution- the right to life and personal liberty.
He was honoured with the Padma Vibushan in March 2002 and the Justice KS Hegde Foundation Award in 2006.
Sorabjee was a member of the committee on arms control and disarmament law of the International Law Association and served as the vice-president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He was appointed a UN Special Rapporteur for Nigeria in 1997. He also served as a member of the UN World Court at the Hague from 2000-2006.
