Row over appointment of public prosecutor for Calcutta HC

Kolkata: A controversy has broken out over the appointment of new public prosecutor for the Calcutta High Court after the Raj Bhavan flagged procedural lapses in the hiring process.

Following the resignation of the earlier public prosecutor Sashwatagopal Mukhopadhyay on November 8, the state government named Debasish Roy as a replacement.

However, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose's office objected to only Roy's name being proposed since as per convention, the state will have to forward three names on this count.

However, state government sources said that till the matter is settled, Roy will manage the affair as the public prosecutor (in-charge).

Sashwatagopal Mukhopadhyay was the longest serving public prosecutor during the current Trinamool Congress regime that had been in the chair since 2017.

The public prosecutor, by virtue of his chair, is in charge of the supervision of all the criminal suits at the Calcutta High Court.

After his resignation, he claimed that the state government has not shown any reason behind his replacement. Days after his resignation as the public prosecutor, the state advocate general S.N. Mukhopadhyay also resigned from the post. It is yet to be clear on who will be his replacement.