What is Attorney General of India ? Power and Function of Attorney General.

The Attorney General is the chief legal adviser of the Government of India. The Attorney General of India is appointed by the President under Article 76 of the Indian Constitution. Attorney General is said to be the lawyer from the government side.

The person to be appointed as Attorney General must be qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court. Thus a person shall not be appointed as Attorney General of India unless he is a citizen of India and,

  1. He must have been a judge of one or more High Court for five years. Or
  2. He has been practiced in one or more High Court for at least ten years. Or
  3. He is an eminent jurist in the opinion of the President.

Powers and functions of Attorney General of India:

  1. As a Chief Legal adviser of the government Attorney General of India has to give advice to the government of India upon such legal matters which assigned to him by the President.
  2. As a lawyer from the government side Attorney general is required to appear on behalf of the government of India in the Supreme Court in which the government of India is concerned.
  3. He may also be required to appear in any High Court on behalf of the government of India which the Government of India is concerned.
  4. In the performance of his duties, the Attorney general of India has the right to audience in any Court in the territory of India.
  5. The Attorney General of India has the right to speak and take a part in the proceeding of any house of Parliament, without the right to give a vote (Article 88). The Attorney General of India is entitled to get all the immunities and privileges as a Member of Parliament.

List of Attorney General of India (1950 to Present):

Attorney General Term Incumbent Prime Minister
M. C. Setalved 28th January 1950 – 1st March 1963 Jawaharlal Neheru
C. K. Daphtary 2nd March 1963 – 30th October 1968 Jawaharlal Neheru, Lal Bahadur Shastri
Niren De 1st April 1968 – 31st March 1977 Indira Gandhi
S. V. Gupte 1st April 1977- 8th August 1979 Morarji Deshai
L. N. Sinha 9th August 1979 – 8th August 1983 Indira Gandhi
K. Parasaran 9th August 1983 – 8th December 1989 Indira Gandhi, Rajib Gandhi
Soli Sorabjee 9th December 1989 – 2nd December 1990 V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar
G. Ramaswamy 3rd December 1990 – 23rd November 1992 Chandra Shekhar, P.V. Narashimha Rao
Milon. K. Banerji 9th July 1992 – 8th July 1996 P.V. Narashimha Rao
Ashok Desai 9th July 1996 – 6yh April 1998 H. D. Devegowda, Iner Kumar Gujral
Soli Sarabjee 7th April 1998 – 4th June 2004 Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Milon. K. Banerji 5th June 2004 – 7th June 2009 Manmohan Singh
Goolam Essaji Vahanvati 8th June 2009 – 11th June 2014 Manmohan Singh
Mukul Rohatgi 19th June 2014 – 18th June 2017 Narendra Modi
K. K. Venugopal 1st July 2017 – Present Narendra Modi

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