Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday decided to appoint associate Advocate General (AG) Rohit Deo as the Advocate General of the Bombay High Court. Sources at Mantralaya said the decision is awaiting a formal notification after the Governor approves it.
Mr. Deo has been the acting AG for the last nine months, and will work as the AG once the court reopens after the Christmas vacation on January 4. “I am in Himachal Pradesh and I have no network in the place I am staying at. Today, when I went to Shimla, I came to know about the Cabinet’s decision from my friends in the legal fraternity,” Mr. Deo told The Hindu .
On December 23, Mr. Deo made a statement before a Division Bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai that the State will make an appointment of AG on or before December 30. The court was hearing a petition filed by a member of the Legislative Council, Sanjay Dutt. The petition urged the court to direct the State to appoint an AG under Article 165 of the Constitution.
Previously, the court had taken a serious note of the issue and said many constitutional and statutory functions are suffering due to the non-appointment.
On November 18, 2014, Sunil Manohar was appointed as the AG, but resigned on June 9, 2015. On June 11, 2015, additional solicitor general Anil Singh was given an additional post of the acting AG. On October 14, 2015, Shreehari Aney was appointed as the AG and he resigned on March 22, 2016.
