solicitor general
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar has today been appointed solicitor general of India by the new BJP government’s law ministry, reported the PTI.
Senior advocates Maninder Singh, Tushar Mehta, L Nageshwar Rao, PS Patwalia, Neeraj Kishen Kaul and PS Narasimha would each become additional solicitor general under Kumar.
Kumar is a constitutional law expert who was the Gujarat government’s counsel and amicus curiae in several Supreme Court cases, including the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, as well as acting for the family of a woman who was allegedly snooped on by Gujarat’s government, asking to restrain the central governments from holding an inquiry into the matter, and working for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in her disproportionate assets case in Bangalore, according to the PTI.
The attorney general post still lies vacant after controversy over the frontrunner Mukul Rohatgi, whom senior counsel Ram Jethmalani accused of having opposed black money investigations.
Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran have tendered their resignations as is customary on change of government, reported the PTI. The AG’s and the SG’s tenures are conventionally co-terminus with the term of the existing government.
According to speculation senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi are contenders for the post of AG, while Ranjit Kumar is frontrunner for the SG’s post.
Vahanvati – the first Muslim to become the top law officer of the country - was appointed AG in 2009, after being SG for five years during the UPA-I’s rule.
Son of former AG K Parasaran, Parasaran was appointed SG after senior advocate Rohinton Nariman resigned mid-tenure from the post. He was appointed ASG by UPA-I in 2004.
The Mail Today, said that "sources" have told it that the BJP government's favourites for the job of attorney general would be senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi (of course, the paper had made the same prediction already a month ago, when it also added that Ranjit Kumar was in the running, and that Salve was the top contender). A "top source" also told the DNA two days ago that Salve and Rohatgi were the top contenders.
According to the Mail's report, Kumar and Gujarat advocate general Kamal Trivedi are first picks for the post of solicitor general, if the government resets its legal adviser roster, currently headed by AG Goolam Vahanvati and solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, as is customary.
Breaking: Several sources have confirmed that Supreme Court additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran will replace outgoing solicitor general of India Rohinton Nariman who resigned on Monday.
It is understood that Parasaran received a telephone call from a senior government official today offering him the appointment today, which he orally accepted.
Tax Sutra's Arun Giri first broke the story earlier today, citing sources [story, behind paywall].
Parasaran is the son of former attorney general of India and senior advocate K Parasaran. He was designated a senior advocate in 2002, and was first appointed an additional solicitor general in the Supreme Court in 2004.
Nariman had resigned from the office on Monday allegedly over difference of opinion with the law minister Ashwini Kumar. Legally India Supreme Court postcard writer Courtwitness tweeted: “[Rohinton F Nariman], from what I gather, did not like being ordered around by someone whom he does not think is as good a lawyer as him.”
Rohinton Nariman, the solicitor general who had succeeded Gopal Subramanium in July 2011, resigned today according to the Times of India and IBN Live.
According to both TOI and IBN, the reasons behind the resignation are “not known yet”, though IBN citing “sources” wrote that “there were differences of opinion between Nariman and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar”.
Nariman is the son of former additional solicitor general of India Fali S Nariman who in 1975 resigned from his post protesting the imposition of a constitutional emergency by then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Legally India Supreme Court postcard writer @Courtwitness1 tweeted:
“This has got to be a record of some sort... Two SG s quitting in succession, midway through their terms!”
“Rumour was that he wasn't particularly happy with the way govt litigation was being run. Not sure if that's proximate cause as well.”
@arungiri tweeted: “Lets start the prediction game on who ll be new SG.. my prediction - [Mohan] Parasaran… What say”
The other day, in the corridor outside the government law officers’ chambers in the Supreme Court a well-dressed man sat outside the solicitor general’s office. Visibly uncomfortable on one of the rickety wooden benches, he was also livid with rage and his gaze seemed intent on burning a hole through the firmly shut door to the SG’s chambers.
Supreme Court senior advocate Rohinton Nariman will be the new solicitor general after Gopal Subramnium unexpectedly resigned from the post two weeks ago.
The government has accepted solicitor general Gopal Subramanium’s resignation yesterday. Subramanium’s continuing chairmanship of the Bar Council of India (BCI) remains uncertain.
Gopal Subramanium did not appear in the Supreme Court in the 2G PIL today after he offered his resignation as solicitor general on Saturday, following private practice advocate Rohinton Nariman having been formally appointed and today representing government minister Kapil Sibal.
If Subramanium’s resignation takes effect he could also cease being a member of the Bar Council of India (BCI), raising a question mark whether he can continue as chairman.
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.