Mukul Rohatgi declines to be the Attorney General of India again: Report

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi (File Image: ANI)

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi declined to return as India's Attorney General from October 1.

There is no particular reason but thought about the offer again and declined it, news agency ANI quoted Rohatgi as saying.

Earlier reports had suggested that he would take over the AG's role from October 1, Hindustan Times reported. Rohatgi was the country's attorney general from June 2014 to June 2017.

On June 29, 91-year-old KK Venugopal was reappointed for a three-month term as the nation's top law officer. He had refused to remain in the role for "personal reasons" but he agreed to the government's request. In July 2017, Rohatgi was replaced as attorney general by Venugopal.

The Attorney General serves a three-year term.

When Venugopal's first term as the attorney general was to end in 2020, he requested the government to relieve him of his responsibilities on account of his age.

He later accepted a fresh tenure of one year since the government was keen on him continuing given the high-profile cases he was handling and his vast experience at the Bar.

Rohatgi, a veteran lawyer, has appeared in several high profile cases in the apex court as well as high courts across the country.

He appeared for the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the apex court, which had heard a plea by Zakia Jafri pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the violence at Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, had challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 people, including Narendra Modi who was Gujarat chief minister during the riots.