New Delhi: Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi is set to become the next Attorney General for India, sources informed ABP News, succeeding present Attorney General KK Venugopal whose stint will come to and end on September 30. Rohatgi will become the 16th Attorney General which will be his second stint in the office after Venugopal showed no interest to continue his post.
Rohatgi served as the attorney general between June 2014 and June 2017.
AG Venugopal’s tenure was extended for a period of three months or “until further orders” at the end of June this year. This extension is set to expire on September 30.
He was appointed as Attorney General on July 1, 2017 for a term of three years but subsequently his tenure was extended twice for a year each.
Venugopal became the attorney general in 2017 after the Union government had expressed reservations towards giving him an extension for two years beyond the set three-year term.
Rohatgi was appointed as the top law officer for the country in 2014 soon after Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party came into power ousting the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which remained in power for two terms since 2004.
Rohatgi, however, tendered his resignation from the post of Attorney General in the second week of June and returned to his private practice. He is one of the leading advocates in the Supreme Court with a practice which a few can match in terms of money and volume.
67-year old Rohatgi completed his studies of law from Government Law College, Mumbai.
After completing studies he started his law practice under Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal who later became the 36th Chief Justice of India. Rohatgi had started working with Sabharwal in the High Court and later started his own practice.
He was designated as a senior counsel by the Government of Delhi on June 3, 1993.
In 1999, he was appointed Additional Solicitor General of India for the Vajpayee government.