AG Rohatgi tells govt he wants to step down as top law official
Days after attorney general Mukul Rohatgi’s term was extended, he has shot off a letter to the government expressing his desire to no longer continue in office.
In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rohatgi said he wants to step down as the country’s top law official and return to private practice. “I want to return to my private practice. I have a good relationship with the government... That’s why I wrote to the government not to extend my term,” Rohatgi said, confirming his letter. His letter caught the government by surprise since it was only a week ago that Rohatgi was given an ad hoc extension.
The extension did not specify till when he would hold the post.
Rohatgi’s stepping down will trigger a race for the top law offi- cer’s position. He was appointed the 14th attorney general of India in 2014 for three years and his term ended on June 6.
During his stint as AG, Rohatgi argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary. Recently, he assisted the Supreme Court in the ‘triple talaq’ matter.
Son of former Delhi high court judge justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, the AG has represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.
A month after India said it will consider medical visas for Pakistani patients only if the application is backed by a recommendation from Pakistan Prime Minister’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj cut the red tape to help a Pakistani infant get medical aid.
The parents of four-monthold Rohaan, a congenital heart patient, were facing difficulty in procuring a medical visa for his treatment in India due to the strained relationship between two countries.
The family lives in Lahore. However, Rohaan will be visiting India on June 12. Swaraj intervened in the case and arranged visa for the family.
He will be treated first by a paediatric cardiologist for a hole in his heart and will later undergo a heart surgery at Noida-based Jaypee Hospital. The doctors at Jaypee confirmed the family’s arrival date.
“We are thankful to the minister for ensuring that the family gets the visa at the earliest. Keeping aside the tensions between the two countries, the minister did a noble act of thinking about the child’s health. We, at Jaypee Hospital welcome the baby and family,” said Dr Manoj Luthra, CEO, Jaypee Hospital.
It was a tweet of a distressed father that caught Swaraj’s attention who assured him of help. Rohaan’s father Kanwal Saadik took to Twitter on May 24 after trying to obtain the visas.
On May 31, Swaraj replied to the request, assuring that Rohaan won’t be a victim to the strained ties between two countries. “No. The child will not suffer. Pls contact Indian High Commission in Pakistan. We will give the medical visa ,” said Swaraj on Twitter.
No. The child will not suffer. Pls contact Indian High Commission in Pakistan. We will give the medical visa.