Govt likely to accept Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam's resignation over his defiance, going against advice of PM Manmohan Singh & Law Minister Veerappa Moily

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to accept the resignation of Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, who quit in protest after Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal asked Rohington Nariman to represent him in the Supreme Court.

The government has taken a grim view of his defiance, going against the advice rendered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Veerappa Moily not to act in haste. Moily met the prime minister on Monday evening to discuss Subramaniam's resignation, triggered by Sibal's decision to solicit Nariman's counsel.

Subramanaim, while defending his action, asserted that he had taken the step to protect the dignity of the office of the S-G. If Subramaniam was hoping for some comfort, he did not receive any. The law minister, according to a government source, conveyed to the Solicitor-General the government's unhappiness about the manner in which he registered his protest.

The prime minister will take a final call on the SG's resignation after the ministerial reshuffle scheduled for Tuesday evening. The S-G, who withdrew from all cases listed against his name in the Supreme Court on Monday, has made it clear that he would continue to stay away until the government took a hard look at his resignation and took a call on it, either way.

The government took a serious note of Subramaniam's move to take the issue to the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Sunday. This step was described as "a serious breach of protocol, decorum and discipline" associated with his job. In an indication of shape of things to come, Nariman appeared for Sibal in the apex court on Monday, in what was viewed as a clear hint that the government was not really in a mood to mollify Subramaniam.

The All India Bar Association, in the meanwhile, has written a letter to the prime minister, urging him not to accept Subramnaiam's resignation.

"In case, Subramaniam does not withdraw his resignation and his resignation is accepted, Rohinton Nariman may be considered for being appointed as the next Solicitor-General of India since he is an erudite senior advocate of undoubtful integrity," the bar association said.