United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday asked Indian-American federal prosecutor Preet Bharara to quit. Apart from Bharara, 45 other federal prosecutors were also told to put in their papers. All these prosecutors had been appointed by former US President Barack Obama. The diktat has come “in order to ensure a uniform transition”, said Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores, according to The Guardian.

Bharara had been kept on by the new administration, so the order comes as a surprise. However, he could be re-appointed. Senior Democratic Party Senator Chuck Schumer said Bharara’s resignation could hamper ongoing cases, reported IANS. Cases related to New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio and aides of Governor Andrew Cuomo are under way. Schumer had also recommended that Bharara not be ousted by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Bharara, known as the Sheriff of Wall Street, prosecuted over 100 finance executives. He was in news when he had prosecuted Rajat Gupta, the former head of McKinsey in connection with a stock market scam, and then went after Devyani Khobragade.

Bharara was appointed Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2009. One of the first people Bharara had targeted the major bank JP Morgan Chase for its role in the Bernie Madoff fraud. He had them to cough up $1.7 billion, the largest forfeiture from a bank in American history. He then went after Citibank for its involvement in risky loans, Bank of America for a mortgage fraud and Toyota for lying to consumers.

Bharara’s resignation comes as surprise for many, particularly after his meeting with Trump late November had gone well. After the meeting, he had said, “We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on.”

It is customary, but not mandatory, for the 93 attorneys to leave their positions once a new president assumes office. However, the Obama administration had allowed appointees of his predecessor George W Bush to serve until their replacements had been nominated and confirmed. The only two prosecutors who have been held back are Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein. The latter was, in fact, appointed by Bush.