Attorney General_ for APPSC G1 & G2

Article 76 provides for the Chief Law Officer i.e. the AG. He is appointed by the President. He should be qualified to be a Judge of Supreme Court i.e. must be citizen of India and
- Should have been Judge of some High court for atleast 5 years
- Or should have been an advocate of some High court for atleast 10 years
- Or eminent jurist in the eyes of the President
The term, conditions of service and procedure of removal is not mentioned in the Constitution. His salary and allowances are decided by President. He enjoys all privileges available to member of Parliament. He may be removed by the President any time and he holds office during the pleasure of the President. He can also sign a resignation letter to the President any time. Usually, the AG resigns when the government is replaced as he is appointed on advice of the government.

Duties and Functions
1. Advise government on legal matters
2. Duties of legal nature assigned by the President. They are:
a. Appear in Supreme Court on behalf of the government in all cases in which govt. is concerned.
b. Represent GOI in any reference made by President to Supreme Court u/a 143
c. Appear in High Court in all cases where GOI is concerned.
3. Functions prescribed by the Constitution or any other law.
Rights and Limitations
He can be audience in all Indian courts. He can take part in proceedings and has right to speak in both Houses of the Parliament or their joint sitting and any committee of Parliament of which he can be a member but will not have the right to vote.

There are limitations as following-
1. Should not advise or hold a brief against GOI
2. Should not advise or hold brief against GOI in cases in which he is called upon to appear on behalf of GOI or to advise on GOI
3. Should not defend people involved in criminal cases without the permission of the government.
4. Should not become the Director of any company without the permission of the government. But he is not debarred from private practice. So he is not full time counsel for the government. He is not of the category of government servants.
Solicitor General of India
Apart from AG, there are Solicitor General and additional Solicitor General who are law officers of government and who assist AG. Only the office of AG is created by Article 76 of the Constitution, and SG and ASG are not mentioned anywhere in Constitution.
Also AG is not a member of Cabinet. There is a Law Minister in the Cabinet to look after legal matters.

Advertisements