Birendra Saraf appointed Maharashtra Advocate General

The Maharashtra government on Thursday issued a notification stating that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has appointed senior advocate Birendra Saraf as the Advocate General (AG) of Maharashtra with effect from December 15.

As per Article 165 (1) of the Constitution, the Governor is empowered to appoint a person who is qualified to become a judge of the High Court as AG. The Governor on Thursday cleared the recommendation made by the state government for Saraf to be AG of the state and Chief Secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava issued a notification to this effect. This came after the state government accepted the resignation of Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who has been the state AG since 2017 and has worked with three consecutive governments.

Designated as senior advocate in February 2020, Saraf has been practicing in the Bombay High Court for nearly 25 years. He completed his LL.B from the Government Law College, Mumbai, and later did his Ph.D on the topic ‘Judicial Intervention in Arbitrations in India’.

He also served as honorary secretary of the Bombay Bar Association, the oldest association of lawyers practicing in the Bombay High Court, for six years, and is presently its vice president. Saraf was also part of the chambers of now Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. He has recently appeared in some high-profile cases and represented actor Kangana Ranaut, former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and the father of former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, among others.