Kolkata: After a tussle between the state and Raj Bhavan over the appointment of vice-chancellor (V-C) of state universities, a new controversy has broken out over the appointment of a new Public Prosecutor (PP) as the Governor has flagged procedural lapses in the hiring process.
After the resignation of public prosecutor Sashwatagopal Mukhopadhyay on November 8, the state government had chosen Debasish Roy as his replacement but the Governor has flagged procedural lapses in the appointment as he is learnt to have said that the state government was supposed to forward three names to Raj Bhavan for selection as per convention.
On the contrary, the state government sources are of the opinion that till the issue is settled Debashish Roy will continue to manage the affairs 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. He was appointed as the PP at Calcutta High Court in 2017. Prior to his appointment, the state government had changed PP multiple times. Mukherjee was handling several important cases related to the government. He had appeared on behalf of the government in multiple important cases in the past, including Narada sting operation,
Bagtui incident.
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
his post.