Atul Nanda appointed Punjab Advocate-General

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 16

Supreme Court lawyer and senior advocate Atul Nanda was on Thursday appointed as Punjab Advocate-General. He replaces senior advocate Ashok Aggarwal, who resigned as the state’s top law officer soon after the change of guard in Punjab almost six years after he was appointed by the previous SAD-BJP government.

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A prominent lawyer, Nanda has even appeared for the Supreme Court in its cases and is familiar with Punjab and its politics. Among other things, he has dealt with alleged corruption cases against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. One of the first tasks before him would be appointment of law officers in terms of Supreme Court’s March, 2016, order.

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The Apex Court order makes it clear that the State would have to fix eligibility criterion before constituting a search committee. After its nod, the names would be sent to the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar.

He, in turn, would get the names examined by a committee comprising High Court judges. The appointments would eventually be made after taking into account observations on suitability of candidates.