Mukul Rohatgi ended his three-year term and stepped down as the Attorney General on June 11. KK Venugopal succeeded him becoming the 15th Attorney General and assumed office on 3 July.
Venugopal has been associated with many political and government institutions and has represented many top political leaders. He received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan. He has been appointed as the legal officer for the second time. Venugopal was the Additional Solicitor General during the time of Morarji Desai.
The new Attorney General has been in connection with BJP from the time of Ayodhya movement during the rule of Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh. He had assured that the Ram Temple will be protected. He later also appeared before the Chief Justice M N Venkatachaliah in December 1992, when the monument was brought down by the Kar Sevaks.
Venugopal had also represented the Madhya Pradesh government during the hearing of National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. Recently he has been representing the BJP veterans LK Advani and others before the apex court regarding the Babri Masjid Case and ordered to close the case within 2 years. Lately, he has also been appearing before the supreme court representing the ED and CBI regarding the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
He also represented P J Thomas, when UPA had challenged him in the apex court regarding Thomas being appointed as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Venugopal appeared for Dandi Swamy Sri Vidyanada Bhartiji and J Jayalalithaa, then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in the Sethusamudram case in 2008.
He was greeted by Mukul Rohatgi, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar and additional solicitor generals on assuming office as the Attorney General of India.