•  •  Dark Mode

Your Interests & Preferences

I am a...

law firm lawyer
in-house company lawyer
litigation lawyer
law student
aspiring student
other

Website Look & Feel

 •  •  Dark Mode
Blog Layout

Save preferences

New Attorney General is second AZB-related A-G appointment

AZB_-_ZiaMody
AZB_-_ZiaMody
Former Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati was appointed Attorney-General of India on Monday (8 June), giving AZB & Partners the second close family connection in that post.

Goolam Vahanvati's son Essaji Vahanvati has been a corporate lawyer with AZB for around six years and was made a partner at AZB Mumbai in April of this year.

The father of AZB founding partner Zia Mody (pictured), Soli Sorabjee, was also India's Attorney-General between 1998 and 2004.

Goolam Vahanvati is the first Muslim to be appointed as Attorney-General and will act as the top legal and constitutional adviser to the government, having the power to appear for it in all court cases.

The decision on liberalisation of the Indian legal market is not directly within the Attorney-General's ambit, although he is likely to be an influential voice in the government on all matters related to law.

Sources confirmed to Legally India that Goolam Vahanvati is known to be in favour of allowing the controlled entry of foreign firms to India, subject to appropriate safeguards to protect smaller practitioners.

Goolam Vahanvati replaces the former UPA-appointed Attorney-General Milon Banerjee.

The former Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian will take up Goolam Vahanvati's former post of Solicitor General. The Solicitor General is the second highest ranking law officer in India, reporting directly to the Attorney General.

[ed: The Indian Express published a detailed profile of Goolam Vahanvati on Sunday 14 June 2009]

Click to show 5 comments
at your own risk
(alt+c)
By reading the comments you agree that they are the (often anonymous) personal views and opinions of readers, which may be biased and unreliable, and for which Legally India therefore has no liability. If you believe a comment is inappropriate, please click 'Report to LI' below the comment and we will review it as soon as practicable.