Gurbir Grewal sworn-in as first Sikh attorney general in New Jersey

January 19, 2018

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Indian-American Gurbir S. Grewal is the first Sikh to be appointed as attorney general for the state of New Jersey Jan. 17.

Grewal received a unanimous vote of 29-0 and was sworn in just hours after New Jersey’s new governor, Phil Murphy, took office replacing Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

“Today is one of the most important cabinet picks. This is the right pick for New Jersey, this is the right pick for law enforcement, this is right pick for ensuring that all citizens of New Jersey are treated equally,” Sen. Paul Sarlo, Democrat from Bergen County, said at the Senate judiciary meeting in Trenton, according to NJSpotlight.com. Grewal was Bergen County Prosecutor from 2016 to 2018, appointed by outgoing Gov. Christie.

“Governor Murphy got this one right. He picked the most qualified candidate to be the next attorney general,” said Sen. Gerald Cardinale, a Republican from Bergen County, who also described Grewal’s nomination as “the best thing [Murphy] has done” so far.

Grewal thanked his mentors, law enforcement from Bergen county and religious leaders from the community as well as his wife and three young daughters, saying “Girls, I continue in this public service journey for really one reason, and that’s to ensure that each of you grow up in a fair and just society,” according to NJSpotlight.com.

“I am a proud son of New Jersey. I never once imagined that my life’s journey could bring me here today,” Grewal added.

A graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Grewal did law from the College of William and Mary. He was assistant U.S. attorney in the Economic Crimes Unit in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2010-2013; From 2013 to 2014, Grewal served as deputy chief of the Economic Crimes Unit and Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section; Eight months into that job he was promoted to chief of the Economic Crimes Unit. In 2016, he became Bergen County Prosecutor.