Soli Sorabjee

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Soli Jehangir Sorabjee (born 9 March 1930), Indian jurist of Parsi-Zoroastrian heritage.

Soli Sorabjee was born in 1930 in Bombay, and after an education at Government Law College, Bombay, was admitted to the bar in 1953. At college, he was awarded the Kinloch Forbes Gold Medal in Roman Law and Jurisprudence (1952).

In 1971, Sorabjee began representing the government as Senior Advocate to the Supreme Court of India. He served Solicitor-General of India from 1977 to 1980. He was appointed Attorney-General of India on 7 April 1998, and held that post till 2004.

Soli Sorabjee holds several offices in organizations of national and international repute. In India, he is Chairman of Transparency International and Convenor of the Minority Rights Group. On the international circuit, he is Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Commission since 1997 and has been a member of the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities since 1998. Sorabjee is also President of the United Lawyer's Association, Vice-President of the Human Rights Committee of the International Bar Association, Vice-President of the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association, Executive Committee member of the International Association of Constitutional Lawyers and member of the Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament Law of the International Law Association. Sorabjee served as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 2000 to 2006.

In March 2002, Soli Sorabjee was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his defence of the freedom of expression and the protection of human rights.

Sorabjee was a close friend and colleague of Nanabhoy ("Nani") Palkhivala. Soli's daughter Zia Mody is a lawyer of great repute and amongst the top corporate counsels in India.

In addition to his columns for the Indian Express (see external links below), Sorabjee also has a number of other publications to his credit:

  • Books:
  • Essays and Monographs:
    • Fundamental Rights as published in "Public Law of India" (1979), ISBN 0-7069-1390-6
    • The Constitution and the Governor as published in "The Governor, Sage or Saboteur" (1985)
    • Protection of Human Rights in Emergencies (1988)
    • Equity in the United States and India published in "Constitutionalism and Rights" (1990)
  • Articles:
    • Obliging Government to Control Itself; Recent Development in Indian Administrative Law, Spring 1994 issue of "Public Law"
    • Freedom of Expression and Censorship: Some Aspects of the Indian Experience, Winter 1994 issue of Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly
    • Freedom of Expression, Commonwealth Law Journal Bulletin (1994).

[edit] External links

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