India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Expressing deep condolences over the death of India’s leading legal luminary and former Attorney General of India Soli Jehangir Sorabjee, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s (JIH) vice-president Engineer Mohammad Salim has said that the death of Sorabjee “is a great loss for the people of India at a time when India needs such people the most.”
In a tweet, he described Sorabjee as “a great advocate of, Justice, Democracy, Human Rights and Human Dignity, an honour for Indians.”
Sorabjee, who was awarded Padma Vibhushan for his defence of freedom of expression and human rights in 2002, died on Friday morning in a hospital in Delhi where he was undergoing treatment for Covid-19. He was 91. He is survived by his daughter Zia Mody and three granddaughters.
Expressing deep grief over the demise of the renowned jurist, President Ram Nath tweeted, “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 & justice system. Awarded with Padma Vibhushan, he was among most eminent jurists. My condolences to his family & associates.”
Offering condolences to his family and admirers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Shri Soli Sorabjee was an outstanding lawyer and intellectual. Through law, he was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden.”
Paying tributes to Sorabjee, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said, “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.”
Home Minister Amit Shah said that “Sorabjee was a doyen of the legal fraternity, who will always be remembered for his contribution in the field of constitutional law.”
Born on March 9, 1930 in Mumbai, he studied at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai and Government Law College, Mumbai.
A noted jurist, Sorabjee served as Solicitor General of India from 1977 to 1980 and Attorney General of India from December 9, 1989 to December 2, 1990 and then again from April 7, 1998 till 2004.
He also worked on the Citizens’ Justice Committee that represented the anti-Sikh riot victims.
He also appeared in some of very important cases like: Keshavananda Bharati, S.R. Bommai, Maneka Gandhi, I.R. Coelho, etc.
He was also affiliated with a number of national and international lawyers associations.
