ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIA (AGI)

Appointment, eligibility, term of office and duties

• Appointment and Eligibility: AG is appointed by the President on the advice of the government.
• Under Article 76(1), the A-G is appointed by the President from among persons who are qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court
• Article 76(4) says “the Attorney-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine.”
• Simply put, A-G must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court
• He or she must be a citizen of India and must have been a 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.

Term of the Office: (Not fixed by the Constitution) 

Procedures and grounds for the removal of AG are not stated in the Constitution.

A-G holds office during the pleasure of the President (may be removed by the President at any time).

Duties: 

• Article 76(2) of the Constitution says “it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the President”.
• The A-G is also supposed to “discharge the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other law for the time being in force”.
• A-G advises the Government of India (GoI) upon such legal matters, which are referred to her/him by the President.
• A-G perform such other duties of a legal character that are assigned to her/him by the President.
• A-G appears on behalf of the GoI in all cases in the Supreme Court or in any case in any High Court in which the GoI is concerned.
• A-G represents the GoI in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (Power of the President to consult the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.

3.What else you should know about the A-G?

• Under Article 88, the “Attorney-General of India shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, either House, any joint sitting of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament of which he may be named a member”.
• However, he or she doesn’t have the right to vote in the House.
• The A-G for India is not, like the A-G for England and Wales and the A-G of the United States, a member of the Cabinet.
• A-G enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a member of Parliament.
• A-G does not fall in the category of government servants, A-G is not debarred from private legal practice. However, A-G should not advise or hold a brief against the GoI.
• The remuneration of the Attorney General of India is not fixed by the Constitution. He receives such remuneration as the President may determine.
• The post of the A-G has been occupied by some of the finest jurists in India’s history. The first two incumbents of the post were the legendary M C Setalvad and C K Daphtary.

4.Solicitor General of India and Advocate General of India

• Solicitor General of India and Additional Solicitor General of India assist the AG in fulfilment of the official responsibilities.
• The corresponding Office for Attorney General in the states is Advocate General (Article 165).
• The Advocate General is appointed by the Governor of the State, who must be a person qualified to be appointed a judge of a High Court. 
• He/she must be a citizen of India and must have held a judicial office for a period of ten years or been an advocate of a high court for ten years.
• The Constitution does not fix the term of office of the Advocate General and it does not contain the procedure and grounds for his/her removal.
• The Advocate General holds office during the pleasure of the Governor of the State, which means that he/she may be removed by the Governor at any time.

5.A-G and the Constitutional Assembly Debate