New Delhi:
Senior Supreme Court advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has defended Gujarat in a number of cases, is set to be the next Solicitor General of India.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) is learnt to have cleared Mr Kumar's name today, who is considered an expert in Constitutional laws, service matters, taxation, local laws pertaining to rent control, sources said.
The ACC also cleared the names of senior advocates Maninder Singh, L Nageshwar Rao, Tushar Mehta, P S Patwalia and Neeraj Kishen Kaul as Additional Solicitors General, the sources said.
Nageswar Rao has been an Additional Solicitor General when UPA-II was in power.
Kumar had been a counsel for the Gujarat government and amicus curiae in several cases in the Supreme Court. Among the cases he represented was the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
Recently, he appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of the family of a woman, who was at the centre of 'snoopgate' controversy.
Mr Kumar had also represented Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case pending in a Bangalore court.
Sources in the government said a formal notification regarding these appointments is likely to be issued tomorrow.
Sources said more law officers are likely to be appointed in the coming days.
GE Vahanvati and Mohan Parasaran resigned last week as Attorney General and Solicitor General respectively along with other law officers after the NDA government assumed office.
It is a convention that law officers step down with the change of government.
The previous UPA-II government had appointed 12 Additional Solicitors General.