Mukul Rohatgi turns down offer to return as Attorney General; cites 'personal reasons'

In a massive development on Sunday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi turned down the Union government's offer to be the next Attorney General of India. While sources told Republic TV that he had agreed to return as the AG a few days ago, he declined it now. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Rohatgi attributed his decision to "personal reasons". Mentioning that he had second thoughts about the offer, he expressed his gratitude towards the Centre. The office of the A-G will fall vacant on October 1 after the retirement of KK Venugopal. 

A-G during NDA government's tenure

After the Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014, Mukul Rohatgi was appointed the A-G for a three-year term. However, he resigned from the post in June 2017 and resumed his private practice thereafter. Subsequently, veteran legal luminary KK Venugopal replaced him. The senior advocate has appeared in a large number of cases involving important issues of constitutional and corporate law and served as the Additional Solicitor General between 1979 and 1980. Just before the end of his term in 2020, he was reappointed as the A-G for one year.

While he received another one-year extension in 2021, he initially expressed his unwillingness to continue beyond June 30 this year in wake of his advanced age. But he agreed to continue as the A-G for three months to enable the Centre to zero in on his successor. Appointed by the President on the advice of the Union Cabinet, the A-G is the chief legal advisor of the Centre as well as its principal advocate before the Supreme Court. He holds office during the pleasure of the President. 

Mukul Rohatgi's stellar career

Son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, Mukul Rohatgi is a senior advocate who has represented several high-profile and crucial cases in the court. He completed law from the Government Law College in Mumbai and started practising straight after college. Initially, he worked under Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, who went on to become the 36th Chief Justice of India, in the Delhi High Court. Rohatgi then started his own legal practice. 

In 1993, he was designated as a senior counsel by the Delhi HC and was later appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India in 1999. One of India's most high-profile lawyers, Rohatgi has several important cases to his credit, including the Gujarat riots case, in which he represented the Gujarat government. He also argued the case related to the National Judicial Appointment Commission.