Soli Jehangir Sorabjee was born in 1930 in Bombay. He commenced his legal practice in 1953 in Bombay High Court. In 1971, he was designated senior counsel by the Supreme Court of India. He became the attorney general of India first from 1989-90 and then from 1998-2004.
Sorabjee is a renowned human rights lawyer. He was appointed by the UN as a Special Rapporteur for Nigeria, in 1997, to report on the human rights situation in that country. Following this, he become a member and later Chairman of the UN-Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, from 1998 to 2004. He is a member of the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities since 1998. He has also served as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 2000 to 2006.
Soli Sorabjee is a champion of freedom of speech and expression. He has defended freedom of press in many landmark cases in the Supreme Court of India and has been instrumental in revoking censorship orders and bans on publications. He was honored with the Padma Vibhushan award, the second highest civilian award in India, in March 2002 for his defense of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.
The above details are taken from Brandeis University website