In a first, Sikh American Gurbir Grewal nominated to be New Jersey Attorney General

Sikh American Gurbir Grewal on 12 December 2017 became first Sikh public prosecutor to be nominated for the post of Attorney General of New Jersey. Grewal was nominated to the post by Democrat Governor-elect Phil Murphy.

If Grewal‘s nomination is approved by the State Senate, he will be the first Sikh to assume the top state law enforcement position in the US. He will also be the second Indian-American after Kamala Harris, who held the position in California before her election to the US Senate.

About Gurbir Grewal
• Grewal is the prosecutor of Bergen County, an important district across the river from New York City. He was appointed by current Republican Governor Chris Christie.
• Grewal has earlier served as an Assistant Federal Prosecutor in New York and New Jersey.
• Prior to being Bergen County's top law enforcement officer, he worked as the former chief of the Economic Crimes Unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office under former federal prosecutor Paul Fishman.
• He also served as the President of the South Asian Bar Association of New York and a member of the New Jersey Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association.

Comment
Indian Americans have held senior law positions during the administration of former President Barack Obama. Neal Kumar Katyal was Acting Solicitor General and Sri Srinivasan, now a federal appeals court judge in Washington, served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General.

Vanita Gupta was the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and headed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

In fact, US President Donald Trump appointed Indian-American Uttam Dhillon to be his special assistant and associate counsel.

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