Yesterday, in an event, the Bar Council of India (BCI) honored five legal luminaries with lifetime achievement awards in recognition of their significant contributions to the field. The recipients of this prestigious award included senior advocates K Parasaran, Fali S Nariman, KK Venugopal, Soli J Sorabjee, and Ram Jethmalani. Notably, Sorabjee and Jethmalani were recognized for their exceptional contributions to the field of law.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had the honor of presenting the awards to Nariman and Venugopal, while Parasaran's award was accepted on his behalf by his son, senior advocate Satish Parasaran. Further, the home minister personally handed over the awards of Jethmalani and Sorabjee to their respective family members.

Amit Shah, while addressing the event, said "I want to say from the heart that awards were given to such persons that I felt proud felicitating them. It's always difficult to select people for awards from such a big field. But ask any person related to the legal field in the country and they will tell these names -- late senior advocates Sorabjee, Jethmalani, senior advocates Parasaran, Fali Nariman and Venugopal -- for the award." 

"The Bar Council of India, for the first time, is going to felicitate the legal luminaries of the country. The council has decided that every year five legal luminaries, the number may increase in course of time, will be felicitated with the lifetime achievement award -- Bar Council of India Vidhi Ratna Award," Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra announced during the valedictory session of the its two-day International Lawyers Conference - 2023.

It is a proud moment for the council to felicitate the country's "legal assets", who not only brought fame and respect to the legal profession in India but also abroad, he added.

Nariman, a distinguished legal figure, held the position of additional solicitor general from 1972 to 1975 and was a former member of the Rajya Sabha.

Venugopal, another eminent legal personality, served as the attorney general of India from 2017 to 2022.

Sorabjee, who sadly passed away in April 2021, had a noteworthy tenure as the attorney general of India, serving in this capacity from 1989 to 1990 and again from 1998 to 2004.

Jethmalani, who left us in 2019, had a multifaceted career, including roles as the Union law and justice minister and chairman of the Bar Council of India.

Minister Amit Shah also commended the Bar Council of India for its recognition of these legal luminaries.

The citations for the awards were eloquently read out by Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.