Senior lawyer Surjit Nath Mitra has taken charge as the new Advocate General of West Bengal, assuming office on Friday. His appointment comes after Kishore Dutta resigned on May 5, following the recent shift in state power structure.
Senior lawyer Surjit Nath Mitra has been appointed as the new Advocate General of West Bengal. He took up the role on Friday.
Before him, Kishore Dutta served as the Advocate General of the state, but he resigned on May 5 following a change in the state government’s power.
The West Bengal government issued an official notification confirming Surjit Nath Mitra’s appointment, stating,
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 165 of the Constitution of India, the Governor has appointed Shri Surjit Nath Mitra, Senior Advocate of the Calcutta High Court, as the Advocate General of West Bengal. He will hold office until further orders. He has been appointed to the post with effect from noon on May 29.”
Kishore Dutta submitted his resignation to West Bengal Governor R N Ravi last month. His decision led to widespread discussion across legal and political circles, with many speculating that he resigned after the defeat of the Trinamool Congress government in the assembly elections.
Surjit Nath Mitra has been practicing law since March 1983. He studied law and economics at the University of Calcutta from 1978 to 1982, and thereafter built his practice in civil and commercial matters. Over the past four decades, he has represented both corporate clients and individual clients.
In 2023, Surjit appeared for the Governor (Chancellor) in a case that challenged the appointment of vice-chancellors in several state universities.
Political analysts note that an Advocate General stepping down after a change of government is not unusual, since the Advocate General is the state’s chief legal advisor and holds the position at the pleasure of the Governor, as provided under Article 165 of the Constitution.
During the last 15 years of the Trinamool government, he served as Advocate General twice since 2011.
Kishore Dutta, regarded as a close aide of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, first resigned in 2021, when the state government faced pressure amid post-poll violence.
At that time, Soumendranath Mukherjee assumed the role as Advocate General. Soumendranath resigned suddenly in November 2023, after which Kishore Dutta was appointed Advocate General of West Bengal for the second time.
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