Bengal Advocate-General Jayanta Mitra resigns

West Bengal's Advocate-General Jayanta Mitra today submitted his resignation "over difference of opinion" with the state government, becoming the third top law officer of the state to put in his papers during Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's tenure. Mitra tendered his resignation to Governor K N Tripathi.

"I sent my resignation to the Governor this afternoon," Mitra told PTI here. On being asked about the reason for his resignation, he said, "I was having difference of opinion with the state government on certain issues." "My job is to plead the cases in the best interest of the state and I have done so during my tenure," Mitra added.

Mitra was appointed AG in December 2014. His predecessor Bimal Chatterjee had resigned the post in 2014. And Before that Anindya Mitra had also resigned the post of AG in 2013.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Abdul Mannan demanded a statement from the government on Mitra's resignation, alleging that he was "forced" to do so as he didn't want to be a party to the "illegal and unconstitutional" steps the state government was taking.

"We feel the state government should offer a proper clarification as to why all of a sudden the Advocate-General of the state had to resign. The Assembly is in session, so we demand a statement from a minister on the floor of the Assembly," Mannan told reporters.