Harish Salve, the ace lawyer, has agreed to give legal advice to the Union government in the Mehul Choksi case. Salve will represent the Government of India in the High Court in Dominica, where Choksi is being held for illegally entering the country
In a statement on Monday, Harish Salve said, “I am advising the government of India on what steps to take in the Mehul Choksi case.” “Government of India is not a party appearing in the Dominican court. We are only helping the Dominican authorities,” Salve added.
He went on to say, “If India is given an audience, and the Attorney General agrees to my admission to their bar, l will appear for India.”
Harish Salve has served as India’s Solicitor General from 1999 to 2002. Harish Salve is considered an ace legal mind not only within India but across the globe.
Harish Salve has time and again proved his mettle in the legal battlefield, be it the courts in India, abroad or the International Court of Justice. Salve delivered an outstanding victory for India at the ICJ against Pakistan in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case. Pakistan had sought dismissal of the application by India which demanded a suspension of the death sentence given to Jadhav by Pakistan’s military kangaroo courts. Pakistan’s dismissal plea had been rejected by ICJ.
In the verdict thereafter, out of the 16 judge bench, 15 found Pakistan in violation of the Vienna Convention. Hence, the Court had granted India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, which had been denied by Pakistan. In addition to that, the court also ordered a stay on his execution. Notably, while Salve reportedly charges around 30 Lakh rupees for daily appearances in courts on behalf of his clients, in this case, he charged a meagre Re. 1 from the Government of India.
Time and again, Salve has stood up for what is right, and he has never been shy of not obliging to the political correctness/incorrectness binary.
Defending the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, Salve had said, “I think it is a statutory resolution. So unless parliament asks the President to cancel it, that order will prevail. So the constitution, as we speak, applies. The Article 35A, which was part of the presidential order of 1954, goes away.”
Harish Salve taking up the case means the Union government has already won the half battle of bringing Choksi to India. Very soon, Choksi will be in Indian prison along with Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.