Venkataramani will take over from incumbent K.K. Venugopal whose tenure will expire on September 30.
A notification, issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, said: "The President is pleased to appoint R. Venkataramani, senior advocate, as Attorney General for India for a period of three years from the date he enters upon his office."
Venkataramani has a rich experience of over 40 years as lawyer and he was also a former member of the Law Commission of India. He was enrolled in July 1977 in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and joined the chambers of late senior advocate in SC P.P. Rao in 1979.
He was designated as senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 1997. He has also been associated with National Law School of India University, Bengaluru.
The development came days after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi declined to return as Attorney General.
Venkataramani was appointed court receiver by the apex court in Amrapali housing projects matter. On September 23, Venkataramani informed the apex court that over 11,000 flats will be delivered in 2 to 3 months to Amrapali homebuyers', out of which 5,428 flats will be handed over in October. A bench comprising Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi, appreciating the court receiver, said that giving possession of over 11,000 flats out of 38,000 flats is an important development.
Khalifa Barq was taken from his home by a special security force, the official of Sirte security department told Xinhua news agency on Friday.
"The operation was based on intelligence information about presence of Barq in central Sirte. He is one of the founders of IS in Sirte who is wanted by the Attorney General," the official said of the arrest made on Thursday.
Sirte, located some 450 km from here, has witnessed months of fighting between forces allied with the UN-backed government and IS militants that ended in December 2016 with the government forces taking over the city.
The IS continues to remain a threat to national security, the government has said.
Sessions announced his resignation in a letter to Trump, saying that the resignation came "at your request", Xinhua news agency reported.
"We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States," Trump tweeted.
"We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date," Trump said in a Twitter post.
The move took place shortly after a press conference Trump gave at the White House during which he said Sessions' fate was under consideration. It marked the first cabinet member exit from the Trump administration after the midterm elections, which ended late Tuesday.
Sessions, a former Senator from Alabama, has been a staunch Trump supporter since early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign, and was one of the first nominated to the Trump cabinet.
Sessions' relationship with Trump soured after he recused himself from the investigation into potential coordination between the president's Republican campaign and Russia, which prompted Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel leading the inquiry.
Attorney General K.K.Venugopal informed a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the government is withdrawing the proposal. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud were the other members of the bench.
The Centre gave this information in response to a petition by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra for stalling the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's move to keep a tab on social media platforms.
Top sources in the Union Law Ministry revealed to the IANS that legal opinion has been sought from Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on the powers of State government to defer enforcement of a Central legislation. Besides, opinion has also been sought on the issue of reduction of fines by the state government.
Several state governments including BJP-ruled Gujarat government have postponed the enforcement of the new MV (amendment) Act amid uproar in public over hefty fines on traffic violations. Moving a step further, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced reduction in penalties for 18 compoundable offences. For instance, under the new law, driving a vehicle without Driving Licence can invite a fine of Rs 5,000 while driving despite disqualification can impose a fine of over Rs 10,000.
Sources said that Rupani's decision to defer enforcement of new MV Act was followed by other states including Delhi, Uttrakahand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, MP etc. Subsequently, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways led by Nitin Gadkari sought a legal opinion from Law Ministry to ascertain whether state governments were competent enough to defer the date of enforcement of a Central law passed by both the houses of the Parliament.
Top brass at the MORTH was also keen to know from Law Ministry that whether the state governments can reduce the fines. Sources said that keeping in mind the complicated issue of fines, the Law Ministry further sought opinion of the Attorney General to clarify the legal position on the matter.
In view of the forthcoming assembly election next year, Delhi government was initially hesitant to issue a notification on the new MV Act. The widespread strike of taxi and auto drivers in the NCR on Thursday also made enforcement of hefty fines a bit difficult to impose. Meanwhile Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reiterated on Friday that heavy fines under the new MV Act would act as a deterrent in large scale violation of traffic rules in the country.
By Deepak Sharma
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, in his address at the felicitation function of the new Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, said: "There must be a fixed term of minimum three years for the Chief Justice of India, which will allow them the time to bring substantial changes."
"Today the tenure is set against their retirement... By the time they (the Chief Justice) decide to do something, they retire and also many are left with very little tenure to plan for some crucial reforms or changes... as they plan, the retirement day is there."
The AG also insisted that the retirement age of judges must be raised. "Age difference between Supreme Court Judge and High Court Judge is 65 & 62. Judges retirement age should be around 70 years," he suggested.
In a response to Venugopal's comments, the Chief Justice said the top law officer should tell all this to the government. "You should tell this to your client... we are ready to work," he said.
The Chief Justice batted for introducing artificial intelligence in the court management system, as it would streamline many cumbersome processes in the judicial system. He said the world is adopting these technologies, and therefore we should do the same.
He also emphasised on the mental health of the judges, saying that the focus should not just be on physical health but this too. The Chief Justice insisted that it is essential to remove the stigma attached to the mental health, and efforts should be made to provide professional help, adding that these reforms will help both judges and lawyers.
Chief Justice Bobde also stressed access to affordable legal aid, saying it is a concern for the people. He also made an observation on the practice of mentioning matters by lawyers before the superior courts, saying that at lot of times, mentioning, which is request by a lawyer for urgent hearing on the matter before the Chief Justice, is very uninformed, and the lawyers mentioning the matter are not qualified to address superior courts on the issue of urgency.
The tweets which I am extracting below are not only in bad taste but clearly cross the line between humour and contempt of the court , said Venugopal in his letter to one of the applicants who had sought consent of the top law officer for initiation of contempt proceedings against Kamra.
I therefore grant consent to proceed by way of initiating contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra, Venugopal said in his letter.
In one of the letters seeking Attorney General's consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against Kamra, three lawyers have claimed that he allegedly attempted to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India through his tweets after the apex court had granted interim bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.
(PTI)