Former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium has been appointed to represent the Maharashtra government and the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) as special counsel.

For the Maharashtra government Subramanium will oppose the appeal of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Amir Kasab, reported the Hindustan Times. Subramanium told the paper that the would “not charge any fees” for the appearances.

The CBI also reportedly notified the law ministry that Subramanium would be retained as special counsel in important criminal cases, such as the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and in connection with the Satyam fraud.

An unnamed law ministry official told the HT: “We have no objection to the CBI’s decision to retain Subramanium as its special counsel. We have received the communication about this from the department for personnel and training (DoPT), which is responsible for the the investigating agency’s administrative matters... We have an old association with him [Subramanium] and have provided him the list of all the cases in which the CBI wants to retain him.”

Subramanium resigned from his post as solicitor general and Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman in July, following a spat over the appointment of senior counsel Rohinton Nariman in the 2G matter. Nariman was later made solicitor general to replace Subramanium.

Subramanium told the HT that he had left all controversies relating to the affair behind him.