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The Attorney General of India is the Chief Legal Advisor of the Indian Government and is its principal Advocate before the Supreme Court of India. The President of India, on the advice of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution of India, appoints the Attorney General of India. They hold office during the pleasure of the President. The Attorney General of India must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court. Hence, ought to be the Judge of some High Court for five years or an advocate of some High Court for ten years, or an eminent jurist in the opinion of the President. The current and the 15th Attorney General of India is K. K. Venugopal. Reappointed by President Ram Nath Kovind in 2020. He was first appointed on June 30, 2017.

Table of content

  1. Attorney General Role
  2. Attorney General Article
  3. Attorney General of India
  4. M.C. Setalvad ( First and the longest serving)
  5. Conclusion:
  6. FAQs

Attorney General Role

Articles 76 and 78 deal with the Attorney General role in the Indian Constitution. The position of the highest law officer is given to the Attorney General of India. It is responsible for assisting the Government in all its legal matters. 

The President appoints the Attorney General. The person who is appointed should be qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. That means he should be a citizen of India and a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years, or should be an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President.

The Constitution does not provide for fixed tenure to the AG. So, he holds office during the pleasure of the President. He can be removed by the President at any time. There is no procedure or ground mentioned in the Constitution for his removal.

Following are the Attorney General role, 

  1. The Attorney General is the Highest Law Officer in the Country. It is his duty to advise the Government on legal matters that the President refers to him.
  2. The President can assign the Attorney General duties of legal character; hence it is his role to undertake these responsibilities.
  3. The Attorney General discharges the functions conferred on him by or under the Constitution or any other law.
  4. The Attorney General has to appear on behalf of the Indian Government in all the cases in the Supreme Court in which the Indian Government is so concerned.
  5. The Attorney General appears on behalf of the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.

Attorney General Article

As mentioned in article 76 of the Constitution of India, the Attorney General of India is the highest law officer in India. As a Chief Legal Advisor to the Government of India, he advises the Union Government on all legal matters.

Attorney General of India

How does India appoint the Attorney General Role?

  • The President of India, on the advice of the Union Cabinet of Ministers, appoints the Attorney General of India.
  • The person appointed must be a citizen of India.
  • To be appointed in the Attorney General Role, a person must be qualified to be a Supreme Court Judge for five years or a High Court Judge for five years or an advocate in the High Court for 10 years, or an eminent jurist in the President’s opinion. 

What is the term of Attorney General of India? 

There is no fixed term for the Attorney General of India mentioned in the Indian Constitution. In addition to this, the Indian Constitution does not specify any procedure and grounds for the removal of the Attorney General.  

Following is the list of individuals who have taken up the Attorney General role from the time of Indian Constitution was amended to date,

M.C. Setalvad ( First and the longest serving)

  • Term 28 January 1950 – 1 March 1963
  • Incumbent Prime Minister was Pt Jawaharlal Nehru

1. C.K. Daftari

  •  Term 2 March 1963 – 30 October 1968
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri 

2.  Niren de

  • Trem 1 November 1968 – 31 March 1977
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

 3. S.V. Gupte

  •  1 April , 1977 – 8 August 1979
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Morarji Desai

4. L.N. Sinha

  • 9 August, 1979 – 8 August, 1983
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

5. K. Parasaran

  • 9 August 1983 – 8 December 1989
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi

6. Soli Sorabjee (shortest tenure)

  • 9 December 1989 – 2 December 1990
  • Incumbent Prime Minister V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar

7. J. Ramaswamy

  •  3 December , 1990 – November 23, 1992
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and P. V. Narasimha Rao

8. Milon K. Banerji

  • 21 November 1992 – 8 July 1996
  • Incumbent Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao

9. Ashok Desai

  • 9 July 1996 – 6 April 1998
  • Incumbent Prime Minister H. D. Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujral

10. Soli Sorabjee

  • 7 April 1998 – 4 June 2004
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

11. Milon K. Banerjee

  • 5 June 2004 – 7 June 2009
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

12. Goolam Essaji Vahanvati

  • 8 June 2009 – 11 June 2014
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

13. Mukul Rohatgi

  • 12 June, 2014 – 30 June 2017
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi

14. K.K. Venugopal

  • 30 June  2017 till date 
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Conclusion:

The Indian Attorney General Role comes with the responsibility of being the highest law officer in the country. Hence making the person in the Attorney General Role, the legal advisor of the Government of India. The current Attorney General of India, Mr. K. K Venugopal, who is also the 15th person to be in the Attorney General Role, was appointed on June 30, 2017. It has become a tradition that the attorney general resigns from the Attorney General Role when a new government is formed.  

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