Patna: Bihar advocate general P K Shahi on Sunday voluntarily relinquished his constitutional post and sent a letter to the state govt communicating his decision.Shahi, who assumed office as advocate general for a second term on Jan 16, 2023, said the decision was entirely his own and had not been taken at anyone’s instance.“I did not tender resignation but have relinquished the post of advocate general, paving the way for the new Bihar govt led by the Bharatiya Janata Party to take an independent decision on the appointment of govt counsels in the Patna High Court,” Shahi said while responding to queries from legal reporters.During his second tenure as advocate general, Shahi appeared in several significant cases on behalf of the Bihar govt. Among them was the Patna High Court’s Aug 1, 2023 judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the caste survey conducted in the state.Another notable case concerned political reservation for extremely backward classes (EBCs) in urban local body elections. The high court upheld the reservation, accepting the legal arguments advanced on behalf of the state.Born on July 3, 1955, Shahi pursued legal studies at Banaras Hindu University before joining the Patna high court Bar in 1980. Over the years, he established himself as a leading practitioner in constitutional law.In 1990, he became the youngest law officer appointed by any state govt in a high court in India when he was named government pleader for Bihar in the Patna high court at the age of 35.He was appointed standing counsel for the central govt in the Patna high court in 2001 and later became advocate general of Bihar on Nov 25, 2005. In 2006, the Patna high court designated him a senior advocate.Shahi entered active politics in 2010 when he joined the Nitish Kumar-led NDA govt as a minister. He initially held the education department portfolio and later handled the environment and forest department, planning and development department, and education department simultaneously.After returning to legal practice in Jan 2016, he was appointed amicus curiae in around 40 public interest litigations relating to the construction of national highways in Bihar.Several major highway projects, including the Patna-Gaya-Dobhi, Patna-Bakhtiyarpur-Mokama, Bakhtiyarpur-Nawada-Rajauli, Patna-Ara-Bhojpur and Munger-Mirzachowki corridors, were monitored by the Patna High Court through proceedings in which Shahi assisted the court as amicus curiae.
