'My tenure coming to end on September 30', says AG, SC tells him don't underestimate power of court
![](https://m.economictimes.com/thumb/height-450,width-600,imgsize-103158,msid-94058359/supreme-court-to-consider-hearing-plea-against-tenure-extension-of-ed-director.jpg)
Synopsis
"There is a little problem. My tenure is coming to an end on September 30," the Attorney General at the outset told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud that will fix the schedule for hearing on September 27 on the contentious issue of the scope of powers of the Centre and Delhi government over control of services.
"There is a little problem. My tenure is coming to an end on September 30," the Attorney General at the outset told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud that will fix the schedule for hearing on September 27 on the contentious issue of the scope of powers of the Centre and Delhi government over control of services.
The bench would tentatively start the hearing on October 11.
The bench also comprising Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha while referring to the court's extraordinary power under Article 142 was perhaps suggesting that it may require the assistance of Venugopal in the matter.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Centre said in a lighter vein, "I may be the petitioner for that".
On June 29, Venugopal, 91, was re-appointed the Attorney General for India for three months.
Venugopal, the chief legal adviser to the government and top law officer of the country, was not willing to continue in the position due to "personal reasons" but acceded to a request by the government.
"The President is pleased to re-appoint Shri K. K. Venugopal, Senior Advocate as Attorney General for India with effect from 1st July 2022 for a further period of three months or until further orders, whichever is earlier," a notification issued by the Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry had said.
His present one-year term was to end on June 30.
Venugopal, the oldest person to occupy the post, was appointed as the Attorney General for India in July 2017, succeeding senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi. He was subsequently reappointed to the post.
The attorney general usually has a tenure of three years. When Venugopal's first term as AG was to end in 2020, he had requested the government to relieve him of his responsibilities on account of his advanced age.
An eminent advocate of the Supreme Court, Venugopal has appeared in a large number of cases involving important issues of constitutional and corporate law, including the constitutional challenge to the dilution of Article 370 and the matter related to Section 124-A of the IPC pertaining to sedition.
He was an Additional Solicitor General of India between 1979 and 1980 and a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2002 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)