What Soli and Lord Lester fought for

Lord Lester of Herne Hill leaned across the table. “Did the reforms Soli Sorabjee introduced as attorney-general have a lasting effect on India’s judicial system?” he asked. We were at a dinner party in London’s St John’s Wood. Anthony Lester was a barrister who dabbled in left-of-centre politics. The connection with Soli was explained by his passion for justice for the underdog.

London’s Times newspaper called Lester “one of the most knowledgeable and authoritative figures in the field of human rights”. Curiously for an Englishman, he was particularly committed to the 400,000 Dalits among 1.5 million British-Indians long before the controversy