[ Bengia Ajum ]

ITANAGAR, 10 Aug: The additional advocate general-cum-standing counsel for the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the Supreme Court of India, Anil Srivastav, tendered his resignation on Monday.

He had been representing the Arunachal Pradesh government in the Supreme Court for the past 30 years. He conveyed his decision in a letter addressed to the secretary of the Law Department.

The move is significant, considering that Chief Minister Pema Khandu had recently blamed members of the state's standing counsel team for failing to appear in court.

Talking to the media, Khandu had claimed that the absence of standing counsel during the hearing reportedly prevented the Arunachal government from presenting records and evidence regarding the cooperation extended to the CBI in a case involving allegations that government contracts were awarded to family members of the CM.

"As the state was unrepresented, the Supreme Court heard only the CBI's account regarding the missing files and the difficulties in gathering the required data. It led to a misunderstanding, resulting in the Supreme Court directing the state's chief secretary and home principal secretary to appear in person on 24 August," said Khandu.

Anil Srivastav had been representing Arunachal in the SC for more than 30 years on various issues related to the state.