Tushar Mehta appointed Solicitor General of India

The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet has approved the appointment, an official communication said, adding that Mehta will remain in office “till 30.6.2020, or until further order, whichever is earlier”.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been appointed as the new Solicitor General of India, a post lying vacant for nearly a year after senior advocate Ranjit Kumar stepped down on October 20 last year citing “certain personal family issues”.

The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet has approved the appointment, an official communication said, adding that Mehta will remain in office “till 30.6.2020, or until further order, whichever is earlier”. Mehta, who began his career as an advocate in 1987, was designated as senior advocate by the Gujarat High Court in 2007. He was made Gujarat’s Additional Advocate General in 2008 and represented the state government led by the then CM Narendra Modi in many crucial cases.

Mehta was appointed as Additional Solicitor General in June 2014 after the Modi government assumed power at the Centre. However, Mehta’s elevation as SG leaves the government with only five ASGs — senior advocates Maninder Singh, Pinky Anand, Atmaram Nadkarni, Aman Lekhi and Vikramjit Banerjee.