NEW DELHI: The newly appointed attorney general of India, Soli J. Sorabjee, wants to make his office the guardian of public interest and “not act as a hatchet man of the government”.
Sorabjee, 59, who was appointed to the high office on Friday, said that the attorney general’s office should, apart from upholding the rule of law, work for promoting human rights and take up public causes “so that there is no impression that it works only for the government.
Asked about his list of top Priority jobs as the attorney general of India, Sorabjee said he wanted to have the 59th constitutional amendment act repealed as it “makes the right to life suspendible”.
Sorabjee said he also wanted to work for giving constitutional status to the right to information.
Regarding the Official Secrets act, he said it was being used today to prevent exposure of the working of the government.
“The net (of the official secrets act) is cast very wide and its provisions restrict access to information about the working of the government and public institutions”.
The provisions of the act, he said, “must be made precise and restricted to essential matters of defense and national security.”
Another priority area in which he wanted to work was regarding prompt judicial review.
The attorney general wanted to “See that the delays occasioned by the government in filing affidavits in dealing with court matters is reduced, if not eliminated”.
Sorabjee, who is also the vice president of the bar association of India, said, lawyers should act as guardians of public interest, uphold the rule of law and promote human rights, particularly for the weaker sections of the society”.
“I am also anxious to see that proper traditions and standards are maintained and the legal profession is looked upon a means of public service rather than an instrument of accumulating wealth”, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 15, 1989
