Senior advocate DS Patwalia was appointed as the new Advocate General for Punjab on Friday, 19 November. The Punjab government issued a notification announcing the appointment by the governor.
Patwalia's appointment comes on the heels of the resignation of APS Deol, who had been appointed as Advocate General in September when Charanjit Singh Channi took over as chief minister of Punjab.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had pushed for Deol to step down because he had represented controversial former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the cases arising out of the sacrilege controversy back in 2015.
Forty-seven-year-old Patwalia, whose father Justice Kuldip Singh was a Supreme Court judge, is one of the youngest lawyers to hold the post in Punjab.
Patwalia had been initially backed to be appointed as Advocate General when Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down as chief minister and the new administration took over, and is reported to have the backing of Sidhu.
When APS Deol was appointed instead, Sidhu protested and even decided to withdraw as Congress state president. He later withdrew his resignation on the condition that a new Advocate General be appointed.
Deol resigned on 1 November because of the row, following which the decision to appoint Patwalia, who has a great deal of expertise in service matters, was taken.
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