Chandigarh — Gurminder Singh, a senior advocate, will succeed Vinod Ghai, who is rumoured to have tendered his resignation to the state administration on Wednesday, claiming “personal reasons.” Gurminder Singh is the third AG since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) assumed control of the state in March 2022.

Gurminder Singh, a senior advocate, was appointed as the new advocate general of the state by the Punjab government on Thursday.

As the third advocate general since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seized control of the state in March 2022, Singh will succeed Vinod Ghai, who is understood to have offered his resignation to the state government on Wednesday, claiming “personal reasons.”

According to a government official, Singh’s name was cleared on Thursday morning by the state cabinet, which was presided over by chief minister Bhagwant Mann. His appointment will officially be announced once Governor Banwari Lal Purohit has given his approval.

It had been anticipated for some time that Ghai, who was appointed to the position in July 2022, would leave. In light of legal losses in various matters, including the dissolution of panchayats and the home delivery of atta in the Punjab and Haryana high court, it had been reported that the state government was considering his removal. As a result of having to revoke the notification regarding the state’s premature panchayat dissolution, the Mann administration was embarrassed.

After senior advocate Anmol Rattan Sidhu, the first AG in the Mann government, resigned on July 19, 2022 due to disagreements over, among other things, the nomination of law enforcement officials, Ghai, a renowned criminal attorney, assumed leadership. Additionally, he had stated “personal reasons” in his resignation letter, which he had made public on July 26.

Gurminder Singh, 56, the AG designate, is a first-generation lawyer. After graduating from Panjab University with a legal degree, he began his practise in 1989.  In 2014, he was designated as a senior advocate. He focuses in constitutional, criminal, and service litigation. He continues to serve as standing counsel for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Union Service Public Commission, the Medical Council of India, the Dental Council of India, and other state boards and corporations.