Solicitor General of India Ranjit Kumar resigned from the post Friday, citing “family” reasons. He is the second senior law officer of the government to quit in the last few months — Mukul Rohatgi had stepped down as Attorney General in June this year. There is no word on who will succeed Kumar. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is considered a front runner for the post. Kumar’s one-line resignation letter to the government said “due to certain personal family issues, I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect”. Speaking to The Indian Express, Kumar said: “I confirm resignation due to family issues.” Official sources said the letter has been received by the office of Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Minister is in the Bahamas to attend the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting and is likely to take a call on the resignation letter once he returns on October 22, sources said. Kumar was appointed Solicitor General on June 7, 2014 for a period of three years after the Modi government came to power. This June, his term was renewed “until further orders” for another three years. He was the standing counsel for the Gujarat government and appeared in several important matters including the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. Kumar’s resignation comes four months after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi put in his papers, saying he wanted to return to private practice. Rohatgi stepped down days after the government extended his term. No Solicitor General after Goolam E Vahanvati, who was in office from 2004 to 2009, has completed the three-year term. Kumar’s predecessor Mohan Parasaran was Solicitor General from February 2013 to May 2014.
