KK Venugopal re-appointed as Attorney General

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 30

The Centre on Monday reappointed noted jurist KK Venugopal as Attorney General for India for one more year from July 1.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also reappointed senior advocate Tushar Mehta as Solicitor General of India with effect from July 1 for a period of three years or until further orders, an official notification said.

It reappointed the current Additional Solicitor Generals (ASGs) Vikramjit Banerjee, Aman Lekhi, Madhavi Goradia Divan, KM Natraj and Sanjay Jain for another three-year term in the Supreme Court.

Six senior advocates have been appointed as ASGs as well, a government notification said. The new ASGs are — Balbir Singh, Suryaprakash V Raju, Rupinder Singh Suri, N Venkatraman, Jayant K Sud and Aishwarya Bhati.

The Centre has also reappointed senior advocates Anil C Singh and Satya Pal Jain as ASGs of Bombay High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court, respectively.

YJ Dastoor (Calcutta High Court), Chetan Sharma (Delhi High Court), R Sankaranarayanan (Madras High Court), Krishna Nandan Singh (Patna High Court) and Devang Girish Vyas (Gujarat High Court) have also been appointed as ASGs for three years.

Earlier this month, Venugopal had agreed to continue as the Attorney General for India for one more year beyond June 30 when his current three-year tenure expires.

The Government’s decision to continue with Venugopal (89) as the Attorney General comes at a time when the Supreme Court is seized of petitions challenging the validity of nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution and Citizenship Amendment Act.

During his current term, he successfully defended the NDA Government in many high-stakes matters, including Rafael fighter jet deal and Aadhaar cases.

A recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan awards, Venugopal was appointed as the 15th Attorney General in June 2017 after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi decided to step down for personal reasons. He had also served an Additional Solicitor General during the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party Government.