Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar steps down

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, the government's second-most senior legal officer, on Friday said he has stepped down because he was not able to attend to his family and personal matters due to work.

"I have resigned due to personal, family issues which I need to attend to and was not able to due to my work," Ranjit Kumar is learned to have written to his colleagues.

He denied any rift with the government and told NDTV news channel that "the government is good to me".

Ranjit Kumar is considered an expert on constitutional laws, service matters and taxation. He earlier served as counsel for the Gujarat government and was an amicus curiae in several cases in the Supreme Court before he took over as Solicitor General in June 2014, weeks after the BJP came to power at the Centre.

Among the cases in which he represented the Gujarat government was the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an alleged staged shootout.

The resignation comes over three months after he got an ad-hoc extension of his tenure in June.

Earlier, Mukul Rohatgi -- the government's top legal advisor -- resigned as Attorney General of India in June this year citing personal reasons.

K.K. Venugopal took over as Attorney General after Rohatgi stepped down.

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