Maninderjit Singh Bedi — Punjab gets new advocate general; Anu Chatrath senior AAG
Fourth advocate general’s exit in three years under the AAP-led state government
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According to sources, Bedi — who has been associated with the AAP for a long time — was the pick of party national convener Arvind KejriwalThe Punjab government on Sunday appointed Maninderjit Singh Bedi as the new advocate general, and Anu Chatrath the senior additional advocate general.
A notification regarding the appointments, issued late Sunday evening, read: “The Punjab Governor, in exercise of the powers conferred under Article 165 of the Constitution of India, is pleased to appoint Maninderjit Singh Bedi S/o Inderjit Singh Bedi… as Advocate General for the state of Punjab with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.”
Bedi assumed the charge of advocate general minutes after the notification was issued.
This came after senior advocate Gurminder Singh Garry submitted his resignation letter to the Chief Minister’s Office, sources said, adding that he has cited his intent to “return to private practice”.
Both Bedi and Chatrath were additional advocate generals to Garry’s team.
Bedi is the fifth advocate general in the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in the state, which came to power in March 2022. Senior advocates Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Vinod Ghai had resigned in July 2022 and October 2023, respectively. Senior advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia had stepped down as the Punjab advocate general in March 2022, after the Congress was routed out of power by the AAP in the state Assembly elections.
According to sources, Bedi — who has been associated with the AAP for a long time — was the pick of party national convener Arvind Kejriwal. Chatrath — a former mayor of Chandigarh — is the daughter of late Gopal Krishan Chatrath, a former advocate general of Punjab, who had associations with the Congress.
Appointed in October 2023 and his term set to end on March 31, Garry wrote in his resignation letter: “As I intend to resume my private practice, I am not inclined to continue on the post.”
Sources, however, said Garry did not want to continue as the Punjab advocate general after the Bhagwant Mann-led dispensation, on February 21, asked all 236 law officers on its payroll to submit their resignation.
The government, however, extended the tenure of 215 law officers out of the total 236 on Sunday.
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