The Mamata Banerjee government on Saturday appointed advocate Kishore Datta as the state’s advocate-general, the appointment coming within two years of his resignation from the same post.

The appointment of a new AG was necessitated after the fifth advocate-general of the state since the Trinamul came to power — Soumendra Nath Mookherjee — resigned from the post last month amid murmurs that political interventions and the factionalism in the ruling party’s legal establishment had forced the veteran to put down his papers.

“...the governor is hereby pleased to appoint Shri Kishore Datta, Senior Advocate, High Court, Calcutta to be the Advocate General for the State of West Bengal, on usual terms and conditions, until further order, with effect from the afternoon of 15th December, 2023,” the order issued by principal secretary of the judicial department of state government reads.

Datta had served as the fourth advocate-general since Mamata’s ascent to power in 2011, but he resigned one and a half years before completion of his five-year term, after the Trinamul returned to power for the third consecutive term.

A source said Datta’s return was only a matter of time after the resignation of Mookherjee, as he has always had a good relation with the ruling establishment, especially the chief minister, who had played a role in his appointment last time.

“Datta had resigned amid questions from different factions of Trinamul as during his tenure, the state government faced a setback in the high court in a case relating to dearness allowance, besides losing the post-poll violence cases. The legal circle was hopeful of his return as he has always been close to the chief minister... We expect he will be able to complete his term this time,” said a senior lawyer in Calcutta.

As the AG, Datta will have to handle a slew of politically sensitive cases — ranging from alleged scams in recruitments in the education sector to allegations of irregularities in the public distribution system — that the government is entangled in.

“The cases that he will have to handle will indeed be challenging.... But the bigger challenge will be to deal with political interference and factionalism in the Trinamul’s legal camp,” said a source in the high court.