Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi set to return as Attorney General of India for second time

Senior Supreme Court Advocate Mukul Rohatgi is set to return as the Attorney General of India, sources told Republic on Monday. He is likely to assume office on October 1 after incumbent KK Venugopal vacates the post. This will be Rohatgi's second term as A-G, after his first stint between 2014 to 2017.

The Attorney General is the top law officer of the country and the Central government's chief legal advisor as well as the principal Advocate before the Supreme Court. The A-G is appointed by the President on the advice of the Union Cabinet and holds office during the pleasure of the President.

Rohatgi, 67, was appointed the Attorney General for the first three years of the BJP-led NDA government from 2014 to 2017. In June 2017, he resigned from the post of the A-G citing personal reasons. He resumed his private practice immediately after.

Subsequent to Rohatgi’s resignation, senior advocate and veteran legal luminary KK Venugopal was appointed as the A-G. After defending the Centre in the Supreme Court for over five years, Venugopal expressed 91, expressed his inability to continue after September 30, when his three months extension ends.

In June this year, the Centre had requested Venugopal to extend his tenure for an additional three months to allow them time to find his successor.

Mukul Rohatgi: One of India's most high-profile lawyers

Son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, Mukul Rohatgi is a senior advocate who has represented several high-profile and crucial cases in the court.

He completed law from Government Law College in Mumbai and started practising straight after college. Initially, he worked under Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, who went on to become the 36th Chief Justice of India, in Delhi High Court. Rohatgi then started his own legal practice. 

In 1993, he was designated as a senior counsel by the Delhi HC and was later appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India in 1999.

One of India's most high-profile lawyers, Rohatgi has several important cases to his credit, including the Gujarat riots case, in which he represented the Gujarat government. He also argued the case related to the National Judicial Appointment Commission.