CHANDIGARH, Oct 6: Hardev Singh Mattewal, a senior advocate of the Punjab AND Haryana High Court today took over as the new Advocate General of Punjab, here today. He took over the charge in the evening.Mattewal's appointment was earlier approved by the Punjab Governor after he accepted the resignation of former Advocate General G.S. Grewal, following a controversy between him and a section of the state bureaucracy over not granting legal advice to "corrupt" bureaucrats on state expenses.Designated as senior advocate in 1986, Mattewal had earlier served as Advocate General of Punjab for the first time in 1990 and held the post for about a year and a half, after working with three governors. He had joined the profession in 1973 and was also the general secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association in 1981. He has been handling cases of many politicians. During his taking over besides advocates, Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his family members were also present. Earlier during the day, Akali leaders in their meeting hailed Mattewal's appointment.Meanwhile, two of the advocates working in the team of former Advocate General, deputy AG Baljit Kaur Mann and assistant AG Navdeep Singh, today resigned from their posts, supporting the stand of G.S. Grewal, who resigned as AG yesterday.Endorsing the stand of Grewal, Navdeep Singh and Baljit Kaur said that the resignations should be an eye-opener for the various sections of the government to function properly.
