Govt persuades Venugopal to stay AG until successor found | India News

NEW DELHI: The Centre has persuaded Attorney General K K Venugopal to continue in the top law officer’s post for some more time till his replacement is found. Appointed as AG on June 30, 2017, Venugopal has been reluctantly agreeing for one-year extensions since July 2020. He has already been persuaded twice to continue as AG for one year at a time and has been leading the law officers’ team for the past five years.
But, given his reluctance to accept one more year extension this time, the government with a lot of effort succeeded in persuading the 91-year-old renowned jurist to continue as AG till his successor was found, official sources said. A votary of free speech, Venugopal had openly opposed any move to curtail free speech on social media through a legislation. In an interview to TOI, he had said, “Social media is an essential outlet for commonmen and intelligentsia to express their view. This freedom is essential for the working of democracy.”