The first authorized biography of Soli Sorabjee
'A gripping life story of a Goliath who strode the Indian legal canvass for nearly seventy years.' - Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India
'Superbly researched, this book by Abhinav Chandrachud is a must read. ' - Madhavi Goradia Divan, Additional Solicitor General in the Supreme Court of India
How does a Parsi lawyer, deeply influenced by the principles of Roman Catholicism, fall in love with a Bahá'í and go on to become the Attorney General of India for a Hindu nationalist BJP government? How does a boy with a broken leg, who studied in a Gujarati-medium school, and lost his father at the age of nineteen, go on to mount a heroic defense of the Janata government's decision to dissolve Congress state legislatures (in 1977) in the Supreme Court? How does a newspaper columnist who admires Nehru, who criticizes the BJP for being 'obsessed' with 'demolishing mosques' and advises them to replace 'Hindutva' with 'Bharatva' or 'Indianness', get chosen by Prime Minister Vajpayee to represent the government in the Supreme Court in many cases, including the Ayodhya case? How does a lawyer with a humdrum customs and excise law practice, whose grandfather sold horsedrawn carriages in Bombay, become a U.N. human rights rapporteur, and repeatedly defend the fundamental right to free speech and expression in the Supreme Court of India?
Definitive, comprehensive and absolutely unputdownable, this first biography of Soli Sorabjee opens a window into the life and times of one of India's foremost constitutional experts.
Review
'A gripping life story of a Goliath who strode the Indian legal canvass for nearly seventy years.' -- Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India
'Soli Sorabjee was undoubtedly a doyen of the Bar. His life is a history of the post-independence era of India, and one can, in these pages, find not only a window into the life of a legal legend, but also an examination of some of the key social, political, and legal developments of the last century. ... I would invite the reader therefore, to take this journey through the life of a legal luminary, a connoisseur of music, poetry and fine food, and above all a good human being.' -- K.K. Venugopal, Attorney General of India
'Superbly researched, this book by Abhinav Chandrachud is a must read. In the backdrop of Sorabjee's incredible journey which every aspiring lawyer should want to know, is the story of the Supreme Court's strides and setbacks over five formative decades. The relevance of this book transcends the legal fraternity.' -- Madhavi Goradia Divan, Additional Solicitor General in the Supreme Court of India
'Silver tongued Soli's contribution in giving shape to the building blocks of our constitutional edifice can never be forgotten. Out of Court his journalistic soliloquies were a treat to read.' -- Kapil Sibal, senior advocate and former union cabinet minister
'This isn't merely the story of a remarkable lawyer but it also provides a window to many defining moments of the India's legal history. Soli Sorabjee wasn't just a top attorney but was also a symbol of a more cosmopolitan India. Abhinav Chandrachud skilfully captures the values that a multi-hued Sorabjee came to represent in a lifetime at the bar and beyond.' -- Rajdeep Sardesai, well-known author and news anchor
About the Author
Abhinav Chandrachud is an advocate who practises at the Bombay High Court. He graduated from the LL.M. program at Harvard Law School where he was a Dana Scholar, and from the JSM and JSD programs at Stanford Law School where he was a Franklin Family Scholar. He has worked as an associate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a global law firm. He is the author of Republic of Rhetoric: Free Speech and the Constitution of India (2017) and Supreme Whispers: Conversations with Judges of the Supreme Court of India 1980-1989 (2018). He has also written for several leading newspapers in India including The Hindu, Indian Express and Times of India, and taught at Cornell Law School and NALSAR University of Law.
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