New Delhi: Attorney General K K Venugopal has been given one more year to continue on the country's topmost legal post till June 30, 2022, reports Live Law. The Union government is all set to notify the reappointment of Senior Advocate KK Venugopal as Attorney General for India for a period of one more year with effect from July 1.
Widely respected as an expert in constitutional law, Venugopal was appointed as the Attorney General of the country on June 30, 2017, for a three-year term. Last year, his tenure was extended by one year.
Venugopal took over as the 15th Attorney General for India on July 1, 2017, succeeding senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who was AG from 2014-2017. As the AG, which is a constitutional post, Venugopal has defended the Centre in crucial cases such as Aadhaar, Rafale etc.
The services of Venugopal might be crucial for the Central Government in cases involving serious constitutional and politically important issues such as the central government's management of the Covid-19 pandemic, Farm Laws, abrogation of J&K special status, the validity of Citizenship Amendment Act, the case challenging Section 124-A of the penal code that criminalises sedition among others.
Last year, the 91-year old Venugopal had requested the Union government to relieve him from his post citing his advancing age. But later he agreed to continue as the central government requested him to continue holding the top office for another term, but on one condition asking not to extend his term more than a year.
Born in 1931, Kottayam Katankot Venugopal is a doyen of the bar with 67-years of practice. His father MK Nambiar too was a veteran barrister. In 2002, KKV (as he is known in legal circles) was awarded the Padma Bhushan and in 2015 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour in the country.