Soli Sorabjee Was Attorney General For The Country & Not The Govt, He Could Tell Union What Was Wrong : Justice KV Viswanathan

The OP Jindal Law School today organized the Soli J Sorabjee Memorial Lecture at Jindal Global University, featuring Justice KV Vishwanathan judge of the Supreme Courtm, as the main speaker. The event paid tribute to the memory of the eminent legal luminary, Soli J Sorabjee, and was attended by a distinguished gathering of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars.In his opening remarks, Justice KV Vishwanathan expressed his deep honor at being invited to speak at the event and acknowledged the enduring contributions of Soli Sorabjee to the legal and constitutional realm.Justice Vishwanathan recounted his first encounter with Soli Sorabjee during a televised panel discussion, highlighting Sorabjee's affinity for engaging in television debatesHe said “I first saw Soli on a TV panel discussion. I had just come back from college in Coimbatore at 6:30 pm in the evening there was a panel discussion of 3 eminent lawyers with Soli anchoring it with Dr. Singhvi to the right. The topic was about the then-raging episode over the President dithering on signing one of the bills. The issue was the role of the president under the Indian constitution.” It was during this discussion that Sorabjee famously summarized his views with the phrase, "The President has to sign or resign," encapsulating the essence of the President's role under the Indian Constitution. Justice Vishwanathan praised Sorabjee's ability to simplify complex constitutional concepts, making them accessible to a broader audience. He said “Soli had the knack for simplifying hardcore, abstract, constitutional concepts and that still has stuck in my mind.”Justice Vishwanathan emphasized that fairness was a fundamental tenet underlying Sorabjee's approach to law and advocacy. Sorabjee consistently evaluated his actions, arguments, and statements in the light of fairness, even if success in a case was not guaranteed. This commitment to fairness was a hallmark of his legal career.He said “Soli tested his actions, arguments, and statements on the anvil of fairness and if it passed that muster then he would advance. So much so that even if it was not to succeed for the case, it did not matter to him.In his lecture, Justice Vishwanathan acknowledged consulting works by prominent legal experts, including Senior Lawyer Sudish Pai, Abhinav Chandrachud's biography of Soli Sorabjee, and "Confederation of Indian Bar" for insights into Sorabjee's life and legal legacyJustice Vishwanathan highlighted how Soli saw the profession as a great calling.He said, “Soli Sorabjee viewed the legal profession as a noble calling and often cited Roscoe Pound's three ideas historically associated with a profession: organization, learning, and a spirit of public service. The remaining idea of gaining livelihood is incidental. That is how Soli practiced it, he preached and that was the underlying basis of how he conducted himself.”Justice Vishwanathan emphasized that Sorabjee possessed inherent constitutional values. Even without a written constitution, Sorabjee would have remained a constitutionalistHe said, “He was a defender of human liberties, a votary for basic structure, a champion of federalism, a defender of minority rights, was a strong advocate for free and fair election.He was a die-hard enemy of arbitrariness, a leader of the bar who fought for the independence of the judiciary, a constitutional scholar who wore the rule of law as a badge of honor and above all a constitutional moralist to the core."Justice Vishwanathan highlighted Sorabjee's passionate advocacy for free speech. He likened Sorabjee to a guardian of Article 19 and praised his fervent support for Voltaire's famous quote: "I may not agree with what I have to say but will defend to death your right to say.”He said “He was obsessively possessed about free speech. When you watch him in the Bandit Queen case you get a feeling that if Art. 19 was in a cubicle, the only other person who could be there was Sorabjee."It was the independent court of law that prevented the rule of law from being supplanted by the Rule of Lathi: Soli J. SorabjeeTo illustrate Sorabjee's tireless championing of free speech, Justice Vishwanathan referenced Abhinav Chandrachud's work and an article written by Sorabjee just two days before the judgment in the landmark "Freedom's First Journal" caseHe quoted his article written on 8th Feb 1976- “Doctors capriciously refused passports, petty traders illegally deprived of a license, government servants wrongfully removed, innocent persons illegally detained, and countless victims of discrimination, all of them he wrote beholden to fearless judges. It was the independent court of law that prevented the rule of law from being supplanted by the rule of lathi.”He went on to narrate that the Bombay HC in appeal held that- “though Fundamental right to free speech has been suspended during the emergency. He was still entitled to challenge the censorship of newspapers because none of the articles were prejudicial ...

Soli Sorabjee Was Attorney General For The Country & Not The Govt, He Could Tell Union What Was Wrong : Justice KV Viswanathan

Suraj Parmar

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