Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG) for conducting Government cases in the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Shri L. Nageswara Rao, has submitted his resignation to the Law Minister Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda, as per reliable sources. His current term as ASG began on 7 June 2014.
He was first appointed ASG in the year 2003 when BJP-led NDA was in power at the Centre. When the BJP lost power in 2004, and Congress-led UPA came into power, Shri Rao’s term as ASG came to an end.
However, he was again appointed ASG in 2013, this time during the Congress-led UPA regime. In May 2014, UPA Government lost power and the BJP-led NDA Government headed by Shri Narendra Modi came into power. After this, Shri Rao submitted his resignation from the position of ASG, however, he was asked to continue by the new Government.
The new BJP Government again appointed Shri L. Nageswara Rao as ASG for a third term, with effect from 7 June 2014 and this appointment was to be valid for 3 years. But, now he has resigned from this post.
Thus, Shri Rao was the only law officer to have continued to serve as ASG even after the change in the government at the Centre (after the general elections of 2014). He is one of those rare law officers who have served under 3 different Governments at Centre.
For last about 10 days, since first week of December 2014, there were rumours about Shri Rao having submitted his resignation. He has cited personal reasons for the resignation. It is also reported that he has been asked to continue until further arrangements are made and will in all likelihood continue to serve till 18th December 2014, the last working day of the year in the Supreme Court, which will then remain closed till 5th January 2015 for Christmas/New Year Holidays.
It is pertinent to mention that a few months back, it was reported in the media that Shri L. Nageswara Rao was considered for his elevation as a Supreme Court Judge sometime in mid-2014, and according to reliable sources he had initially consented to the same, however later he did not accept it due to certain personal reasons. As is well known, Shri Rohinton F. Nariman and Shri Uday U. Lalit, who were senior advocates in the Supreme Court, have since been directly appointed as Supreme Court Judges with effect from 7 July 2014 and 13 August 2014, respectively. Including Justice Nariman and Justice Lalit, there have been only 6 instances in the 64 years long history of the Supreme Court when a person was appointed directly as a Supreme Court judge.
It is noteworthy that Shri L. Nageswara Rao was also a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal Committee headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, the IPL Probe Committee, formed to inquire into the allegations of betting and spot/match fixing in IPL Cricket Season 6. Recently, Mudgal Committee had submitted its final report in the aforesaid betting scandal. Shri Rao is also an advocate member of the Gender Sensitization Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) of the Supreme Court.
Shri Rao is likely to resume his private practice as a senior advocate of the Supreme Court with effect from 5 January 2014 when the court resumes work after vacation.
* Photo courtesy: http://kammasworld.blogspot.in/
