NEW DELHI: For the first time, the Union govt will have full strength of 13 law officers to represent it in the Supreme Court with the appointment of six new faces, senior advocates drawn from various states and some having domain expertise, as additional solicitors general (ASGs).
In addition to existing ASGs – S V Raju, N Venkataraman, K M Natraj, Aishwarya Bhati and Vikramjit Banerjee, the appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved appointment of senior advocates S Dwarkanath, Archana P Dave, Satya Darshi Sanjay, Brijender Chahar, Raghvendra P Shankar and Rajkumar B Thakare (Raja Thakare) as ASGs for the SC.
With the addition of six more the strength of ASGs will increase to 11, in addition to top law officers in attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta. Mehta has been SG for the last nearly six years, the second longest in the history of SC after first SG C K Daphtary, who had a 13-year tenure when Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM.
Interestingly, the traditional dominance of Delhi-based senior advocates in the strength of ASGs continues to dwindle as Hyderabad-based Sannapureddy Dwarkanath revels in tax matters and mainly practices in tax tribunals. He was designated as a senior advocate in April 2021 by the HC.
Archana P Dave, who with Bhati would be the two women ASGs in a team of 11, had successfully argued in SC for grant of permanent commission to women short service commission officers. She was designated as a senior advocate by the SC in January this year.
Satya Darshi Sanjay was additional solicitor general for Patna HC from 2015 till 2020. His name figures as one of the promoter/directors of G V Mall Owners’ Association. Brijendra Chahar, who was once part of the BJP legal cell of Haryana, has been practicing in the SC for a long time.
Raghavendra Shankar, who has been in the central govt’s ‘A-Panel’ lawyers for close to five years, was chosen as ASG for his expertise in tax and constitutional law. Raja Thakare from Mumbai is known for his expertise in handling prosecution brief of sensational cases involving heinous crimes, which included Saki Naka rape-murder and rape-murder of techie Esther Anuhya. He was the special public prosecutor in the serial train blast case of 2006 in which 188 persons were killed. The court had convicted 12 and awarded the death penalty to five of them.
In addition to existing ASGs – S V Raju, N Venkataraman, K M Natraj, Aishwarya Bhati and Vikramjit Banerjee, the appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved appointment of senior advocates S Dwarkanath, Archana P Dave, Satya Darshi Sanjay, Brijender Chahar, Raghvendra P Shankar and Rajkumar B Thakare (Raja Thakare) as ASGs for the SC.
With the addition of six more the strength of ASGs will increase to 11, in addition to top law officers in attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta. Mehta has been SG for the last nearly six years, the second longest in the history of SC after first SG C K Daphtary, who had a 13-year tenure when Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM.
Interestingly, the traditional dominance of Delhi-based senior advocates in the strength of ASGs continues to dwindle as Hyderabad-based Sannapureddy Dwarkanath revels in tax matters and mainly practices in tax tribunals. He was designated as a senior advocate in April 2021 by the HC.
Archana P Dave, who with Bhati would be the two women ASGs in a team of 11, had successfully argued in SC for grant of permanent commission to women short service commission officers. She was designated as a senior advocate by the SC in January this year.
Satya Darshi Sanjay was additional solicitor general for Patna HC from 2015 till 2020. His name figures as one of the promoter/directors of G V Mall Owners’ Association. Brijendra Chahar, who was once part of the BJP legal cell of Haryana, has been practicing in the SC for a long time.
Raghavendra Shankar, who has been in the central govt’s ‘A-Panel’ lawyers for close to five years, was chosen as ASG for his expertise in tax and constitutional law. Raja Thakare from Mumbai is known for his expertise in handling prosecution brief of sensational cases involving heinous crimes, which included Saki Naka rape-murder and rape-murder of techie Esther Anuhya. He was the special public prosecutor in the serial train blast case of 2006 in which 188 persons were killed. The court had convicted 12 and awarded the death penalty to five of them.
