Atul Nanda, The Advocate-General of Punjab, yesterday resigned from his post quoting constitutional convention and highlighting that his appointment was coextensive with the appointment of the chief minister. Captain Amarinder Singh, who is the chief minister of Punjab, filed a letter of resignation with the state Governor yesterday.
He announced his resignation by dropping a mail to his team and thanking all his colleagues and junior lawyers who have worked long hours, weekends and holidays, often at personal cost for case preparation so that their office could shine in the Court.
“I want to take this opportunity to express my pride in each and every one of you. My TAG family is likely to be one of the best AG offices in recent times. The young officers here are like my children and I have seen them grow, as a counsel and as a human being. The senior law officers have been my strength in every way, “he added.
His administration became a hotbed of controversy in February this year when the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association (HCBA) passed a resolution for removing Advocate General Atul Nanda from the Association on the grounds of acting against the bar’s interest and working against physical hearings.
However, the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council later stayed the decision passed by the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association (HCBA). In recognition of the HCBA’s decision to arbitrarily invoking Nanda’s membership, the Council said, “Atul Nanda has always been advocating for the case of the Advocates. This decision by the HCBA is contradictory as Sh. Atul Nanda has publicly, repeatedly, supported the resumption of the physical hearings of the Court.”
