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Senior advocate Gurminder Singh appointed Punjab AG
The third AG since Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took over the reins of the state in March 2022, Gurminder Singh replaced Vinod Ghai, who is learnt to have tendered his resignation to the state government, citing “personal reasons”, on Wednesday.
The Punjab government on Thursday appointed senior advocate Gurminder Singh as the new advocate general of the state.
The third AG since Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took over the reins of the state in March 2022, Singh replaced Vinod Ghai, who is learnt to have tendered his resignation to the state government, citing “personal reasons”, on Wednesday.
A formal notification of his appointment was issued Thursday afternoon after nod from the governor Banwari Lal Purohit.
The resignation of Ghai, who was appointed to the post in July 2022, was on the cards for some time. Hindustan Times had reported on September 17 that the state government was considering replacing him in the backdrop of legal setbacks in some cases, particularly dissolution of panchayats and home delivery of atta, in the Punjab and Haryana high court. The Mann government faced embarrassment as it had to withdraw the notification related to premature dissolution of panchayats in the state.
Ghai, a leading criminal lawyer took over in July 2022, after senior advocate, Anmol Rattan Sidhu, first AG in Mann government, resigned on July 19, 2022, following differences over selection of law officers, among other issues. He had also cited “personal reasons” in his resignation letter, made public by him on July 26.
56-year-old Gurminder Singh is a first-generation lawyer. He started his practice in 1989 after completing the law degree from Panjab University. He was designated senior advocate in 2014. He specialises in service litigation, constitutional and criminal matters. He has remained standing counsel for Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Union Service Public Commission, Punjab Vidhan Sabha and other boards and corporations of the state. He has a long association with the state’s AG office as he served as assistant advocate general and deputy advocate general in the past. He left the AG office in March 2008, when he was an additional advocate general.
