'Will miss Soli Sorabjee as I miss my father': Harish Salve's warm tribute to a legal icon

Senior advocate and Queen's Counsel Harish Salve paid a heart-warming tribute to veteran lawyer and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, who breathed his last on Friday morning. Speaking to Republic Media Network, Harish Salve recalled fond memories with Soli Sorabjee, who was like a father figure to him.

The 91-year-old jurist passed away at a private hospital in Delhi where he was undergoing treatment for COVID-19. Clearly nostalgic, an emotional Harish Salve said, “Memories flood the mind at a moment like this.”

He narrated, “I met Soli when I was 26 and he was 52. His first comment (with his customary twinkle) was that he was twice my age. I would call him Sir and his first task was training me to call him Soli. And that is what he was, unpretentious and warm, carrying his genius lightly on his shoulders.”

The senior advocate said Sorabjee always treated him as his ‘fifth born’ and enjoyed hearing jazz music late at night with him, whether it was in Delhi or at NY's Fat Tuesday or Paris’s Magnetic terrace.   

“Grieve for him I will not although I will miss him as I miss my father. Instead, I will try to celebrate his passing on the way he would have wanted me to. With Miles Davis’ song ‘Milestones’ playing in the background and raising a toast to a man who was as only a few have been or will ever be. God bless,” said Harish Salve QC.

Remembering Soli Sorabjee

Soli Sorabjee, a Padma Vibhushan recipient, served as the Attorney General of India first from 1989-90 and then from 1998-2004. He was a strong advocate of freedom of speech and had defended freedom of the press in many landmark cases in the Supreme Court.

Paying tributes to the veteran lawyer, Chief Justice NV Ramana said Sorabjee will be remembered as a legend who added strength to the pillars of democracy. President Ram Nath Kovind also praised the late jurist as an icon of India's legal system who deeply influenced the evolution of the judiciary. He was also described as the legal luminary by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.