Sorabjee assures speedy probe into Bofors

He was in Geneva as part of his task as special UN investigator into human rights abuses in Nigeria. Sorabjee, 68, returned to New Delhi this weekend to take office, for the second time, as India’s Attorney General. “There will be an expeditious and thorough investigation into all scams and scandals starting with Bofors,” Sorabjee said, adding that among his early priorities would be to see that the “horrendous delays in the disposal of cases one of the reasons for which is that the Government is the chief litigant be minimised.”

It may be recalled that the first genuine investigation into the Boforspayoffs in secret Swiss accounts commenced during Sorabjee’s first tenure as Attorney General of India in 1989.

Sorabjee’s appointment comes even as one of the accused in the $ 1.2 billion arms for bribes case, the Italian businessman and friend of Sonia Gandhi Ottavio Quattrocchi has filed an “urgent” writ petition in the New Delhi High Court asking for the Non Bailable Warrant issued against him in February 1997 as well as the Interpol’s red alert to be revoked.

Sorabjee told this newspaper he did not wish to comment on this development without examining it. Among his priorities, he said, would be to remind lawyers about the basic norms of their profession. “Law is a service-oriented profession. It is not trade or business operating on the principle of demand and supply. Lawyers need to be reminded about this,” Sorabjee said.

He did not comment on the pressures on the BJP Government to dismiss the Tamil Nadu Government but said his job would be to “advise the Government to tread the correctconstitutional path”.

Sorabjee’s appointment is widely seen as the BJP’s answer to those elements in the Government seeking to sidestep the law of the land or bend rules for personal benefit. Diplomats in human rights circles in Geneva commented that Sorabjee’s appointment to the top job by two different governments was testimony to his independence and integrity.

Under the Constitution, the Attorney General is not a member of the Cabinet but a Constitutional functionary. Sorabjee has no political link and has not belonged to any political party. He has appeared in several cases dealing with Constitutional issues in the Supreme Court including those related to human rights and individual freedoms such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Sorabjee said the Freedom of Information Bill and the early passage of the Lok Pal Bill after appropriate modifications would top his agenda. “A third priority is the enactment of a law about the declaration of assets and incomes by ministers and theirfamily members as announced by the prime minister,” he said.

He said there would also be a National Judicial Commission with regard to the appointment and removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges.