You may have read Bar & Bench's bland report about the resignation of the WB AG today, but here's a detailed analysis:

1. In 2011, Mamata's first AG was a very eminent Senior Advocate and London-educated barrister with A-list clients, Anindya Mitra. He resigned in 2013. Mint reported that the resignation came a day after criticism of the Mamata government's poor human rights record by the Calcutta High Court.

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/HM7PDAeAtUf6vEGDJQjc6O/Barrister-Anindya-Mitra-resigns-as-West-Bengals-advocate-ge.html

2. She then appointed another Senior Advocate and London-educated barrister, Bimal Chatterjee, as AG. Less high-profile than Anindya Mitra, but quite respected. He resigned in 2014 citing "health grounds", but whether that was the real reason is doubtful, as he continued to appear in court for private matters after resigning.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/west-bengal-advocate-general-bimal-chatterjee-resigns/articleshow/45495269.cms

3. She then appointed a very eminent Senior Advocate and London-educated barrister with A-list clients, Jayanta Mitra, as AG. He resigned in 2017, but went public with his dissatisfaction with the government. He said: "I resigned to keep my spine firm and straight. I could not compromise with my conscience." Reacting to his resignation, Senior Advocate and CPIM leader (now MP) Bikash Bhattacharya said: "All the AGs who resigned were extremely qualified but they couldn’t become part of political decisions. These men were under pressure. Do you really believe that men holding such high positions would resign to pursue hobbies?"

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/i-resigned-to-keep-my-spine-firm-says-bengals-former-advocate-general/articleshow/57213834.cms

https://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/advocate-general-addl-advocate-general-resign-in-bengal/story-MBScmL1Ty5BSzFnZwI1WwJ.html

4. Her next AG was Kishore Datta, former junior of TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee. At the time, he was a non-Senior Advocate and non-barrister who was relatively unknown. Also the youngest to be appointed AG. His tenure was also the most controversial one for NUJS. He was said to constantly interfere in the functioning of the college, which led to protest letters by the SJA (covered extensively by LI). These clashes happened mainly during the period of Talukdar as interim VC, and included the introduction of domicile quota and changes in the composition of the governing bodies. This period also witnessed the scrapping of the iPleaders course, with iPleaders eventually winning at the arbitration and being awarded compensation from NUJS. However, the most controversial decision was the manner in which NKC was appointed as VC (covered extensively by LI). The SJA had written demanding that it be consulted in the appointment process, but the letter was ignored. After not appointed a VC for a long time, Datta hurriedly formed a selection committee during the tenure of a judge who was acting Cal HC CJ for just 2 months. He also appointed a then TMC spokesman in the selection committee (who was removed after students pointed that it violated the university charter). Finally, NKC was appointed ahead of VCV despite the latter being a NALSAR professor with a superior record. The then Chancellor (CJI Gogoi) appointed Justice Arun Mishra as his nominee. Both very poorly-regarded judges who were least bothered about NUJS.

Datta eventually resigned in 2021, citing "personal reasons". However, the Indian Express reported: "A government source, however, said, “Recently, the government lost many cases in the Calcutta High Court, including the post-poll violence case. Top leaders of the ruling party were annoyed with that."

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/kolkata-news/kishore-datta-bengal-s-4th-advocate-general-since-2011-resigns-like-the-rest-101631621497698.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-advocate-general-kishore-datta-resignation-7508090/

5. Mamata's next AG was Soumendranath (Gopal) Mookherjee, Senior Advocate and Cambridge-educated barrister, one of the top counsels in the Calcutta High Court. This morning, it was reported that he has now resigned after just 2 years in office. According to the Indian Express, the Law Minister asked him to resign. The Express also said: "A senior minister said, “The state government was not happy with Mukherjee as it lost almost all cases in the Calcutta High Court under his stewardship." Both TOI and the Express are reporting that Kishore Datta will be back as AG.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/bengal-ag-quits-after-little-over-2-yrs-in-post/articleshow/105136292.cms

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-advocate-general-9022502/

If Mamata expects Datta to miraculously end the government's losing streak in the court, she is daydreaming, because:

a) The others who resigned are far more eminent than him and Datta was previously removed for non-performance anyway

b) Legally, the government is on very shaky ground in call cases: chit fund scam, teaching scam, coal scam, cattle scam, ration scam, sand scam etc. Our higher courts go by the law.

But the bigger question for NUJS is whether Datta will again interfere in the functioning of the college? Also, will he renew NKC's term as VC? Will the SJA intervene more strongly and demand a fair appointment procedure? Could Chandrachud also be more pro-active than Gogoi?

Datta will surely continue his interference. He has got a personal grudge against NUJS ever since he represented the former Regi Surajit Mukhopadhyay in the corruption matter against the university. He was also instrumental as an EC member in ensuring that the latter is allowed to resign with benefits instead of upholding his sacking. He has also been known to openly criticise NUJS placement, one of the major USP of the place, saying that he would bring that to an end so that more students join practice. He is not at all a competent lawyer and only got the position because of his connections with the law minister and the ex-HC judge who is also part of the EC. Together, these three spell bad news for the university, especially now that the VC has been taking several decisions in recent times that TMC isn't happy with.

You are spot on. NUJS is royally screwed. The current SJA is totally inert and most students can be bribed with grades to shut up, so I am not hopeful of any resistance.

I just have a question though: did Dutta breach ethics by sitting over matters involving the former Regi and can he be reported to the BCI?

Problem with NUJS is that it is now filled with mediocre professors with no standards who survive by catering to the worst elements amongst students who want easy exams, lots of marks, attendance without attending classes and free lunches of other kinds

Their favourite pass time is to engage in blood feud against the other profs who might be getting slightly ahead of them in career trajectory

Hard working profs with innovative ideas are sidelined and they leave

Students don't care as long as there is enough placement through campus

VC not able to solve the puzzles of various interests among faculty to move things along

The place is ruining itself, merely a rent seeking organization with no growth, we don't need any outsider to help :)

What could a Kishore Dutta do that faculty and students are not already doing to our beloved NUJS?

Excellent comment, my friend. Deserves featured status. But just one point of difference with you: you say that Kishore Datta can't bring down the place any further. I disagree. Had SN Mookherjee remained as AG, he would not have stopped to the level of interfering with the appointment of the next VC. He would have okayed the appointment of, say, someone like Faizan or VCV. I do think they would have applied, as living in Kolkata is better than living in Patna and Raipur. But Datta will rig the process in a way that they either won't apply or they will get overlooked. Of course, the SJA could protest in the way that the SBA did at NLSIU, but don't hold your breath.

I am expecting JK Das, AKP or Rathin Bandopadhyay to be the next VC now.

States will ensure that state universities remain mediocre, so it is best to avoid them. The national universities (even the newer ones) are much higher in the pecking order. Who was the WB AG when they successfully drove out Tata from Singur? That must have been a big 'feather' in his/her cap.

OMG this is terrible news 😢 But the IE report also says:

"Ghatak is also believed to have called Dutta, who according to sources, did not attend the minister’s call and instead phoned an MP from the state to seek his advice."

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-advocate-general-9022502/

The MP is obviously his mentor Kalyan Banerjee. Any chance Kalyan could advise Dutta to decline the AG post and seek a Lok Sabha ticket or MLA ticket instead?

You are giving too much importance to Nujs and yourself. In Government of West Bengal priorities, Nujs can only be the last thing to worry about. AG has not much business as such with a University.

Nujs has become mediocre with every passing year. A law school which used to challenge NLS Bangalore in 2010-11 on academic front has become comparable to NLU Jodhpur & GNLU in 2023, far behind NLS/ Nalsar.

Nujs badly needs a great VC and revamp of its faculty and infrastructure.

Brother I am from calcutta and an alumnus of nujs, let me tell you something, other than jobless randos on LI nobody gives a shit about nujs or any law school for that matter. These are not priorities for anyone outside of this website, even residents who reside right outside of nujs have no idea what that place is.

I am an alumnus of an NLU and happen to know Mr Mookerjee very well. He is a person of high integrity. I can speak from knowledge that he was unhappy with the other lawyers being appointed by the government in various cases. These lawyers are mostly TMC activists or relatives of TMC politicians, with degrees from shady colleges and no standing at the bar. Mamata must understand that the AG alone can't handle all the work and it's important to appoint other competent lawyers who can do their work properly. You also can't accuse the AG of non-performance when your ministers are looting crores and getting caught red-handed, and then the Cal HC denies them bail and allows the ED to do its job.

Wow, things are heating up!! The Governor has sought a meeting with Mookherjee to know why he resigned. Obviously an effort to checkmate the TMC. I feel NUJS students should also meet with the Governor and make a representation.

https://www.thehansindia.com/news/national/bengal-guv-wants-to-personally-meet-ag-who-resigned-on-friday-837055

BIG NEWS! The cat is out of the bag!! Mookerjee has broken his silence just now and given interviews to TV9 Bangla and ABP Ananda, while The Telegraph has also published a report (links below).

Translation for non-Bengali speakers:

1. Mookherjee has said that he did not receive any support from the government. Also, that he stands against corruption and the state is wrongly obstructing criminal cases. He also said that the government is appointing lawyers without consulting him. The Telegraph has also said that there is heavy politicisation of legal work and infighting, i.e. Abhishek Banerjee-Sanjay Basu (Aquilaw) TMC faction versus Kalyan Banerjee-Moloy Ghatak faction.

2. The Telegraph also reveals that it was Mamata's decision to break the tradition of appointing eminent senior barristers as AG by appointing Kishore Datta (Kalyan's former junior) as AG. Also, that even though Kishore did terribly as AG he was apparently well-liked by people in the TMC. However, he may not be reappointed as AG and the position may again go to a senior and respected lawyer.

https://epaper.telegraphindia.com/imageview/452598/18148884/71.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP8u3rg4JeE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB3vQ16RrsA

I see that you have editorialised the content yourself. Nowhere did Mookherjee admit to the state government wrongly obstructing criminal cases. He could not have done so, because it would have implicated him as the AG in charge during that period. Moreover, the Telegraph did not name Basu, that's your addition too. Your last sentence also does not flow from the report or interview, but your personal opinion.

The Telegraph’s exact words were:

“After Trinamul retained power in 2021, a young lawyer was given the power to form a fresh team of high court lawyers for the state government. This seemed to annoy many pro-Trinamul lawyers, who began distancing themselves from the party.”

Only someone completely ignorant or naive would be unaware that the reference is to Aquilaw and Sanjay Basu.

As for Mookerjee’s comment about the state obstructing criminal cases, have you even seen the ABP Ananda interview and do you understand Bengali? He clearly says so.

Guys, in the meanwhile, the full list of Aditya Birla scholars was published in TOI yesterday. All major NLUs with multiple winners, but zero from NUJS. We have also seen GNLU and NLUD score hits in Rhodes now. Can we honestly say that NUJS is now better than NLUD and GNLU? Is it time the SJA finally gets active? Maybe write a letter to the Chancellor/CJI demanding more transparency?

SJA should first check student quality and effort. Noojies have stopped winning things because they are lazy and entitled who simply don't study anymore. Admin is complicit in allowing that so long as the students don't revolt about university conditions including infra and irregularities. The few good teachers left are all disillusioned with the student quality. Speak to any of them, including any of the names recently mentioned in a thread about NUJS faculty.

BREAKING NEWS AND BAD NEWS: Kishore Dutta has officially been chosen as the Advocate General once again by Mamata, as was being rumoured in the press last month. I doubt very much if the current SJA will be interested in confronting him, as the SJA of the previous decade had done.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/kishore-datta-new-advocate-general-of-west-bengal-to-hold-post-for-second-time-572603

Local media is reporting that Datta is advising TMC scam accused Sujaykrishna Bhadra (popularly known as "Kalighater Kaku") even after being appointed AG. Senior Advocates Jayanta Mitra (former AG) and Bikash Bhattacharya have both said that this is improper and unethical. How can a sitting AG represent people from the ruling party accused of serious crimes??

Original Bengali article:

https://tv9bangla.com/kolkata/state-advocate-general-ag-kishore-dutta-advocate-of-sujaykrishna-bhadra-kalighater-kaku-972463.html

English translation:

https://tv9bangla-com.translate.goog/kolkata/state-advocate-general-ag-kishore-dutta-advocate-of-sujaykrishna-bhadra-kalighater-kaku-972463.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Because Datta himself is a scamster as are the people whom he represents, including the decision-makers in the state. If he had any self-respect, would he have taken up a post which nobody worth any morality and sense is not touching, and from which he had been ousted unceremoniously not so long ago?