At the end of June this year, AG Venugopal's tenure was extended for a period of three months or "until further orders". This extension is set to expire on September 30.
Venugopal, 91, expressed his inability to continue after September 30 when his third extension at the helm is getting over.
Rohtagi will take the seat of the country's top law officer from 1st October. People aware of the matter said Rohatgi gave his consent for assuming the top post last week following a request from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Rohatgi was Attorney General for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government between 2014 and 2017, soon after the new dispensation took over.
Venugopal had recently indicated to the Supreme Court that he might not be in office after September 30.
Mukul Rohatgi is the son of former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, who practiced under Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, former CJI in the High Court before starting his own legal practice.
Rohatgi completed law at Government Law College in Mumbai and started practicing law straight after college.
He was designated as a senior counsel by Delhi HC in 1993 and was later appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India in 1999.
The 66-year-old senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi has represented several high-profile and crucial cases in the court.
He represented the 2002 Gujarat riots case where he appeared before the court for the government of Gujarat.
Rohatgi also fought the high-profile case of Shahrukh Khan's son Aryan Khan's alleged drug case. He appeared for his bail plea, scheduled to come up before the Bombay High Court.
