Senior Advocate R Venkataramani was appointed as the next attorney general of India on Wednesday, the office of Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a tweet. President Droupadi Murmu made the appointment for a tenure of three years.

Venkataramani will take over as the highest-ranked law officer of the Union government on October 1. The tenure of incumbent attorney general KK Venugopal will end in September 30.

Venugopal was appointed to the post in 2017 for a term of three years. His term was to end in 2020, but he had been given one year extension each in 2020 and 2021.

On Sunday, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi had declined to take over as the attorney general after reportedly accepting the offer two weeks ago.

Venkatramani, who has been on the panel of Senior Advocates appearing for the central government, has an experience of more than 40 years of practice in the Supreme Court. He was appointed as a member of the Law Commission of India for two successive terms in 2010 and 2013.