•How to become Attorney General in India?

•How to become Attorney General in India?

The Attorney General of India is the Chief Legal Adviser to the Government of India and the Chief Counsel of the Government in the Supreme Court of India.  The Attorney General of India is appointed by the President of India under Article 76.  The main duty of the Attorney General of the country is to advise the Central Government in legal matters and to perform the responsibilities under the legal process, which are referred to him by the President.

He has the right to appear in any court of the country, along with it he has the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament.  The Attorney General does not have the right to vote.    

He also is the primary lawyer representing Union Government in the Supreme Court of India.  The Attorney General, like an Advocate General of a State, is not supposed to be a political appointee, in spirit, but this is not the case in practice.

The Attorney General of India is the highest law officer of the country. He is responsible to assist the government in all its legal matters. The President appoints the Attorney General (AG). The person who is appointed should be qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. That means, he should be a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years.

How is the Attorney General of India appointed?

• The Attorney General of India is appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Union Cabinet of ministers.
• The person appointed must be a citizen of India.
• To be appointed as the Attorney General of India, a person must be qualified to be a Supreme Court judge, i.e. they must either be a judge of a High Court for five years or an advocate in a High Court for 10 years or an eminent jurist in the President's opinion.

•Term of Attorney General’s office

There is no fixed term for the Attorney General of India. The Constitution mentions no specified tenure of Attorney General. Similarly, the Constitution also does not mention the procedure and ground of his removal.

You may know the following facts about his office:

1. He can be removed by the President at any time
2. He can quit by submitting his resignation only to the President
3. Since he is appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers, conventionally he is removed when the council is dissolved or replaced

•Role of Attorney General of India

Being the Chief Law Officer of the country, the Attorney General of India has to perform the following duties:

1. Whichever legal matters are referred to him by the President, he advises the Union government upon the same.
2. President keeps on referring him legal matters that suits his interest and Attorney General has to advise on those too
3. Apart from what President refers, he also performs the duties mentioned in the Constitution
4. The three duties that are assigned to him by the President are:

• In any legal case where the government of India is related to, the Attorney General has to appear in the Supreme Court on its behalf
• He has to represent the Union Government in any reference made by the president to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution
• He also appears in the High Court if any case is related to the Government of India.