Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee on Saturday asserted that the office he was occupying was not a mouthpiece of the Union Government and would not defend ‘colourable exercise of power,’ no matter whether the ‘colour is saffron or red,’ reports UNI.

The Attorney General was neither in the Cabinet nor the government, he said delivering the first Nani Palkhivala Foundation Memorial Lecture here.

Hailing Palkhivala’s contribution to constitutional jurisprudence, his advocacy of the rule of law and defence of human rights during India’s dark period, he recalled, “Palkhivala was a constant shining star in our dark firmament.” Sorabjee listed the debasement of the country’s political system today. “Regrettably, we live in times when there are no men and women to match our Himalayan peaks, when there is crisis of moral leadership, when our political system and public life have more hypocrites, wheeler dealers, schemers and cowards than at any time of our history,” he lamented. Sorabjee said Palkhivala was deeply upset by the debasement of the country’s national character and felt corruption at the upper reaches of the judiciary, whose independence he had stoutly defended, was illustrative of the incredible decline in the national character. Recalling the multifaceted life of Palkhivala, born in a middle-class Parsi family in Mumbai, Sorabjee, who was Palkhivala’s junior at the Bar and had been associated with him for over 50 years, said the zenith of his fame and success was in persuading the SC to accept the basic structure doctrine in the Keshavanand Bharati case. Palkhivala was against tinkering with the Constitution and the court held that the basic structure of the Constitution could not be altered. The apex court also conceded Palkhivala’s argument that the minorities had the right to administer educational institutions, unhindered by the government. Palkhivala had, declined an offer of Attorney Generalship and judgeship of the Supreme Court. He, however, accepted the Tata offer, he could have done much more for the legal profession,” Sorabjee opined.

The memorial lecture was attended by several retired judges of the apex court and sitting judges of the Madras HC, besides leading members of the Bar, civil servants and industrialists.