Mukul Rohatgi is an Indian lawyer and senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India, who was the 14th Attorney General of India from 2014–2017, appointed by the then ruling NDA government. He was replaced by KK Venugopal. Before becoming AGI, Rohatgi, one of the top 10 most influential and most expensive lawyers in the country, served as the Additional Solicitor General of India for five years under the former NDA government.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Mukul Rohatgi was born on Wednesday, 17 August 1955 (age 67 years; as in 2022) in Delhi. His zodiac sign is Leo. The Delhi-based lawyer completed his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) from Delhi University in 1975 and obtained an LLB degree from the Government Law College, Bombay University in 1978. He obtained his Doctorate in Law from Fakir Mohan University, Odisha. , in 2011, and he was also awarded the Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) – Honorary degree by Amity University, Uttar Pradesh in November 2016.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx): 6′
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Mukul hails from a legal lineage, his father, the late Justice Avadh Bihari Rohatgi, was a former judge of the Delhi High Court and senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He has a sister named Madhulika Singla.
Mukul Rohatgi’s father
wife and children
He is married and his wife Vasudha Rohatgi is also a trained lawyer; However, he left law practice to take care of his household. Vasudha is the daughter of senior Indian lawyer, late GL Sanghi. Mukul has two sons, both of whom are lawyers and married. His elder son is Nikhil Rohatgi.
Mukul Rohatgi’s son and his wife Vasudha Rohatgi
Mukul’s younger son, Sameer Rohatgi, is a practicing lawyer in the Delhi High Court, District Consumer Forum and Family Court.
Mukul Rohatgi’s son Sameer with his wife
Address
Mukul Rohatgi can be contacted at 59, Sunder Nagar, Delhi, 110003.
livelihood
Early career
Soon after completing his LLB from Mumbai, Mukul came back to Delhi and started practicing law in the chambers of Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal in the Delhi High Court. Sabharwal later became the 36th Chief Justice of India. While working there, the budding lawyer handled many cases, including Sabharwal’s cases. Eventually, after gaining enough experience, Mukul started his own law practice. In 1978, he was officially admitted to the Delhi Bar Council as an advocate, and almost two decades later, in 1994, Mukul was appointed as a senior advocate by the Delhi High Court. He held the post of Additional Solicitor General of India after being appointed by the then Government of India in November 1999. His five-year tenure as one of the country’s top law officers ended in May 2004 with the change of government.
international representation
In 2006, Mr. Rohatgi was selected by the then Chief Justice of India to be part of the Indian delegation to present his paper titled “Impact of Environmental Law on Human Rights” at the Indo-British Legal Forum in Scotland. He was also invited by the Government of Australia and the High Court of Australia to participate in the Indo-Australian Legal Forum held in Canberra, Australia in March 2015. After five months, the lawyer went to Astana to participate in the 13th meeting of Prosecutors General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, organized by the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Mukul Rohatgi attending a conference
high-profile cases
As Additional Solicitor General of India during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Mukul represented the government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter cases. During his three-year tenure as Attorney General of India, he successfully defended the Central Government in several important cases such as fake encounters in Manipur, triple talaq, criminal defamation, challenges to the Aadhaar case, etc.; However, the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case was considered the lawyer’s biggest failure. There was speculation that after Mukul Rohatgi’s failure to defend the government in the NJAC case, he was asked to leave the office of AGI in 2015. In 2017, the senior lawyer had also defended the government’s demonetisation policy. Mukul also admitted in an interview that while holding the post of Attorney General, he was very close to the PM and his cabinet. His other high-profile clients include Anil Ambani in the gas dispute between the two Ambani brothers, Indian politicians like Jayalalitha in corruption cases and large corporates like Adani and Robert Vadra in the 2G scam trials.
Mukul Rohatgi posing outside the Supreme Court of India
In 2018, the Maharashtra government appointed Mukul as the special prosecutor in the Judge BH Loya death case, and the government paid him a fee of Rs. 1.20 crores. Two years later, he represented the Bihar government in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, after actress Rhea Chakraborty filed a petition seeking a stay on the investigation. Senior Add. Rohatgi also successfully represented social media giants Facebook and WhatsApp before the Delhi High Court in 2021 in their petitions challenging the 2021 IT Rules. Around the same time, Rohatgi fought the case for former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, when the commissioner filed a petition against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, accusing Anil of defaming him. The year 2021 was an eventful one for the senior advocate as in the same year he defended the makers of the web series Tandav in the criminal cases filed against him and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in the Supreme Court in the alleged case. Forgery. Mukul won another high-profile case on October 28, 2021, to secure bail for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the cruise ship drugs case. He was part of Khan’s legal team which included other senior lawyers including Satish Maneshinde.
Controversy
Lalit Modi’s threatening Instagram post
In January 2023, Lalit Modi had threatened Mukul Rohatgi through an Instagram post asking him not to call him a fugitive. However, the Instagram post was later deleted. Rohatgi called it “nonsense” and avoided comment. Modi wrote in the post,
As a young lawyer who buys judges, I can buy and sell you a million times.”
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 2008, Sr. Ed. Rohatgi was honored with the National Law Day Award by the then Prime Minister of India for “his scholarship and wide experience in the practice of unswerving support for the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution”.
- He also featured in the list of “Top 10 Lawyers of India” released by The Times of India in January 2010. In the same year, Mukul was recognized as a notable businessman by Chambers & Partners and as a leading senior lawyer by Legal 500. ,
- In September 2015, he was featured in the book Legal Eagles (Stories of the Top Seven Indian Lawyers).
- The central government appointed the lawyer as an eminent jurist to the selection committee for the anti-corruption ombudsman in May 2018.
Favorite
- Book: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
car collection
Mukul is fond of collecting supercars and owns a Bentley and a BMW 7 Series, among other cars, which he is often seen driving in the courts.
property/property
His wife Vasudha Rohatgi bought a 2,100-square-yard bungalow in Delhi’s Golf Links in February 2023 for Rs 160 crore.
Salary
Senior lawyers charge between Rs. Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per appearance in the Supreme Court.
net worth
His net worth (as of October 2021) is estimated to be Rs 100 crore.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Mukul likes to read books in his free time and is also an art connoisseur.
- He also loves to travel, and revealed in an interview,
I spend my money on traveling around the world and staying in nice hotels.
- On 18 June 2017, Mr. Rohatgi resigned from the post of Attorney General of India citing that he wished to continue his private legal practice. In an interview about his sudden resignation, the senior lawyer said,
I have told the government last month that I do not want to be appointed again. I consider three years’ tenure as sufficient and I had worked for five years in the previous BJP government also. I would like to return to private practice.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn