Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi on Sunday declined the Central government’s offer to be the next attorney general of India, ANI reported. He had reportedly accepted the offer two weeks ago.
He told The Indian Express that there was no specific reason behind his decision and that he changed his mind after having second thoughts.
Rohatgi was approached by the government to succeed incumbent KK Venugopal, whose tenure as attorney general ends on September 30.
Venugopal was appointed as the top law officer in 2017 for a term of three years. His first term was to end in 2020, but he had been given one year extension each in 2020 and 2021.
On his third extension, the 91-year-old indicated to the government that he does not want to remain in the office after September 30 due to health issues, according to The Indian Express.
Following this, the government had approached Rohatgi, who was also initially in agreement.
Rohatgi had previously served as attorney general from June 2014 to June 2017, before Venugopal took over. He had represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 riots case.
Rohatgi also argued for the Centre in the triple talaq case and the Aadhaar case in the Supreme Court, among other high profile matters.
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