Union Government appointed Senior Advocate Rohinton Nariman as the Solicitor-General

The Union government on 23 July 2011 appointed senior advocate Rohinton Nariman as the Solicitor-General, the second senior most law officer of India. Nariman was appointed for a period of three years, effective from the date on which the notification in this respect will be issued.

Nariman succeeded Gopal Subramanium who resigned from his post in early July 2011. Nariman, son of an eminent jurist Fali S Nariman, was in the race for the post after Subramanium resigned as Solicitor General in the wake of Rohinton being appointed as special counsel to represent the government in a 2G related case in the Supreme Court.

Rohinton Nariman was the youngest lawyer to be designated a senior advocate at the age of 37 years, in 1993. Nariman was made Senior Counsel by the then Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachalaiah, who amended the rules in order to make him a senior counsel at the young age of 37 against the mandatory age of 45.

Nariman had practised Maritime Law in New York at Haight, Gardener, Poor and Havens for one year. Apart from legal interest, he specialises in Comparative Religious Studies and was ordained Zoroastrian priest from Bandra Agiari.

Nariman appeared for several important constitutional and corporate cases. He argued for Mukesh Ambani's RIL along with senior advocate Harish Salve in the Krishna Godavari basin gas dispute with Anil Ambani.

He shot into national limelight when telecom minister Kapil Sibal chose him over Subramanium to defend the government against an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court alleging favours to a corporate house. Subramanium resigned in protest against Sibal's decision. Subramanium had served as a government law officer for six years - first as an Additional Solicitor General from 2005 to 2009, and was later elevated as Solicitor General in 2009.

Solicitor General of India

The Solicitor General for India is subordinate to the Attorney General of India, who is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. The Solicitor General for India is the second law officer of the country who assists the Attorney General.  Solicitor General for India is in turn assisted by seven Additional Solicitors General for India. Unlike the Attorney General, the Solicitor General does not tender legal advice to the Government of India. His workload is confined to appear in courts on behalf of the Union of India.
 C.K.Daphtary(28.01.1950 – 01.03.1963) was the first Solicitor General of India