After getting the new Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab is all set to get the new Advocate-General (AG) — all within a month’s time. In fact, the state has seen five AGs in just 10 months.
Punjab Government had given additional charge of the state police chief to Gaurav Yadav on July 4, while Vijay Kumar Janjua was appointed as the state’s administrative head a day after. Now, within a month’s time, the state’s top law officer, Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu, has put in his papers citing “personal reasons”.
As his replacement, the State Government has finalised the name of senior advocate Vinod Ghai, son of eminent criminal lawyer late RS Ghai; and the official announcement is expected anytime.
Interestingly, Ghai has represented AAP MLA and the former Health Minister Dr Vijay Singla during the hearing of his regular bail plea in a corruption case registered against him by the current regime.
Ghai would be the fifth AG to be appointed by the State of Punjab in less than a year. Following the resignation of AG Atul Nanda after the then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh stepped down from the post, senior advocate APS Deol was appointed in September last year by the Charanjit Singh Channi led Government.
Days after, Deol also resigned from the post in November last year after which senior advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia was appointed as the top law officer, and continued till the change of guard in Punjab in March.
Appearing in cases against the state government, Ghai had also represented Punjab’s former Director-General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini — an accused in Behbal Kalan police firing case; Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh — in sacrilege cases; besides some others. 62-year-old Ghai practice on the criminal side and was appointed senior advocate in 2012.
Ghai, interacting with media in the High Court premises, said that he had no affiliation with any political party and was picked up by the AAP government purely on merit. “I am grateful to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for giving me this responsibility. They are working on a corruption free agenda and I would try to put forth their ideology in the legal system,” he said.
Sidhu had received much appreciation for securing the transit remand of the gangster Lawrence Bishnoi — the prime accused in Punjab singer Sidhu Moosewala’s killing — from Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
The outgoing AG Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu has made his decision public, seven days after formally writing a letter to the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on July 19. “I am really thankful to the party for giving me a chance to represent the office of the Advocate General, Punjab. Due to personal reasons, I will not be able to serve this prestigious office, therefore, I hereby tender my resignation, which may kindly be accepted at the earliest,” read the letter.
TRIED TO CONVINCE SIDHU TO TAKE BACK RESIGNATION
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that he tried to convince Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu for a couple of days to take back his resignation.
“He is a very senior lawyer and a member of our team. In the future also, we will take legal advice from him. For two-four days, I even tried to convince him to stay but he said that he had some commitments and engagements in near future,” said Mann, while speaking to the media persons at the Parliament premises.
Mann informed that the Punjab Government has appointed a senior lawyer Vineet Ghai as the new Advocate General. “We want an Advocate-General to have such a team so that we are not forced to hire costly lawyers from outside. Be it Session Court, High Court or Supreme Court, the AG’s team should be able to put forth the voice of the people of Punjab,” he said.
