New Delhi, Jul 23 (IANS): Senior Supreme Court lawyer Rohinton Nariman was Saturday appointed the Solicitor General of India, the second topmost government lawyer.
Nariman will assume charge Monday and represent the government in all important cases that were to be attended as solicitor general.
Nariman, 55, the son of eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman, succeeds Gopal Subramanium who resigned in the wake of a controversy over Communications Minister Kapil Sibal opting for Nariman to represent him in the apex court in a case seeking probe against him for allegedly favouring a telecom operator.
He takes charge as the solicitor general at a time when the central government has been facing tough questions in some cases, including the setting aside of the appointment of P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, monitoring of investigation in 2G spectrum allocation case and the appointment of a special investigation team in the black money recovery case.
The central government has already moved the apex court seeking a review of its ruling in the black money case.
Nariman, who did his Master's in law from Harvard University, is known for phenomenal memory and holding a firm position in court.
His appointment comes 15 days after Subramanium resigned from the office.
Subramanium said that he resigned to uphold the dignity of his office. "I resigned only to protect the dignity of the office."