The Attorney General

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 for India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

is the Indian government's chief legal

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...

.

The Attorney General for India is appointed by the President of India

President of India

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...

 under Article 76(1) of the Constitution of India and holds office during the pleasure of the President. He must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

The Attorney General is responsible for giving advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters and to perform such other duties of legal character as may be referred or assigned to him by the President. The Attorney General has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote. The Attorney General appears on behalf of Government of India in all cases(including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which Government of India is concerned. He/She also represents the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution. The Attorney General is assisted by a Solicitor General

Solicitor General of India

The Solicitor General for India is subordinate to the Attorney General of India, who is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. The Solicitor General for India is the second law officer of the country, assists the Attorney General, and is...

 and four Additional Solicitors General. The Attorney General is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted. All references to the Attorney General are made by the Ministry of Law. The Attorney General can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government. He/She cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government. Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the Attorney General of India does not have any executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

 authority, and is not a political appointee; those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India

Ministry of Law and Justice (India)

The Ministry of Law and Justice is a prominent Ministry of Government of India. Under the , the Ministry is vested with the responsibility of administration of legal affairs, justice, and legislative affairs in India....

.

The current Attorney General is Goolam Essaji Vahanvati

Goolam Essaji Vahanvati

Goolam Essaji Vahanvati is the Indian attorney general. He is the first Indian Muslim to hold the post of Attorney General. His term in office began in June 2009 and will last for three years. Before this, he was a Solicitor-General. Prior to being appointed Solicitor-General, he was...

, who was appointed by the Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

-led government after the 2009 General Elections

Indian general election, 2009

India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million , it was the largest democratic election in the world to date.By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be...

.

The Attorney General of India, 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. Every time a party comes to power in the general elections, in India, all the law officers resign, and law officers loyal to the new party are appointed.

Politicization of the Attorney General position

The Attorney General is selected by the Government and acts as its advocate, and hence is not a neutral person. Nevertheless, it is a constitutional authority, and his or her opinions are subject to public scrutiny.
On several occasions however, the opinions pursued by the Attorney General appears to have been extremely politicized.

During some of the AG tenures, it has been felt that the attorney general has gone too far - e.g. Niren De during Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...

 replied to a question by Hans Raj Khanna

Hans Raj Khanna

Justice Hans Raj Khanna was a judge of the Supreme Court of India . In the Habeas Corpus case during the Indian Emergency, four other judges went with the government view that even right to life stood abrogated during Emergency...

 stating that even the right to life is suspended during emergency. Similarly, in 2005, when the UPA

United Progressive Alliance

The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...

 government was planning a possible coalition with Mayawati, Milon Banerjee's opinion absolving Mayawati

Mayawati

Mayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...

 in the Taj Corridor case

Taj corridor case

The Taj Heritage Corridor case is an alleged scam wherein 2002-2003, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati and a minister in her government, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, were charged with corruption. The Taj Corridor project was intended to upgrade tourist facilities near the Taj Mahal and was...

 was ignored by the Supreme Court:

"In a direct condemnation of the government which asked the CBI to heed attorney general Milon Banerjee’s opinion and close the case against Mayawati, the Supreme Court told the agency not to go solely on the AG’s opinion and place all evidence before it".

In 2009, his opinion absolving Ottavio Quattrocchi

Ottavio Quattrocchi

Ottavio Quattrocchi is an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal....

 in the Bofors scandal

Bofors scandal

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...

 has also been viewed as "devaluing and eroding the Attorney General's position".

Former Attorneys General

The Attorneys General of India since independence are listed below:

Attorney General	Term	Incumbent Prime Minister
M. C. Setalvad M. C. Setalvad M. C. Setalvad was an eminent Indian jurist, who became the first and longest serving Attorney General of India . He also remained the Chairman of the First Law Commission of India , which is mandated for legal reform in the country by Government of India...	28.01.1950 - 01.03.1963	Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
C.K. Daphtary	02.03.1963 - 30.10.1968	Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
Niren De	01.11.1968 - 31.03.1977	Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
S.V. Gupte	01.04.1977 - 08.08.1979	Morarji Desai Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...
L.N. Sinha L.N. Sinha Lal Narayan Sinha was a lawyer who was the Attorney General of India during the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi. Born in the village of Mussi , he is regarded for his legal skills because of defending Emergency in India. He was also the Solicitor General of India from 17 July 1972 until 5...	09.08.1979 - 08.08.1983	Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
K. Parasaran K. Parasaran Shri K. Parasaran is an Indian lawyer. He was former Attorney General of India, under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Parasaran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the year 2003 and Padma Vibhushan in the year 2011.-References:*...	09.08.1983 - 08.12.1989	Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists... ; Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
Soli Sorabjee Soli Sorabjee Soli Jehangir Sorabjee is an Indian jurist.-Biography:Soli Sorabjee was born on March 9, 1930 in Bombay, and after an education at Government Law College, Bombay, was admitted to the bar in 1953...	09.12.1989 - 02.12.1990	V.P. Singh; Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Singh was the eighth Prime Minister of India.-Early years:He was born on 1 July 1927 to a Rajput farming family in Ibrahimpatti - Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chandra Shekhar Singh did his Master of Arts at Allahabad University. He was known as a firebrand in student politics...
G. Ramaswamy G. Ramaswamy CA. G. Ramaswamy is an Indian Chartered Accountant from Tamil Nadu and is the incumbent president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for the year 2011-12.-Career:Ramaswamy qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1984...	03.12.1990 - 23.11.1992	Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Singh was the eighth Prime Minister of India.-Early years:He was born on 1 July 1927 to a Rajput farming family in Ibrahimpatti - Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chandra Shekhar Singh did his Master of Arts at Allahabad University. He was known as a firebrand in student politics... ; P. V. Narasimha Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparti Venkata "Narasimha Rao" was the ninth Prime Minister of India . He led an important administration, overseeing a major economic transformation and several home incidents affecting national security of India. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj. He is often referred to as...
Milon K. Banerji Milon K. Banerji Milon Kumar Banerji was an Indian jurist who was Attorney General of India from 1992 to 1996 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Solicitor General from 1986 to 1989. He died on July 20, 2010 after a long illness, having suffered a stroke in December 2009. He was 82.-References:...	21.11.1992 - 08.07.1996	P. V. Narasimha Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparti Venkata "Narasimha Rao" was the ninth Prime Minister of India . He led an important administration, overseeing a major economic transformation and several home incidents affecting national security of India. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj. He is often referred to as...
Ashok Desai Ashok Desai Ashok H. Desai was the Attorney General of India from July 1996 to 1998. Previously, he was the Solicitor General of India from December 1989 to December 1990. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan award and the Law Luminary Award in 2001.Ashok H...	09.07.1996 - 06.04.1998	H. D. Devegowda; Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral served as the 12th Prime Minister of India. Gujral was the first PM to govern exclusively from the Rajya Sabha; , only he and Manmohan Singh have done so.-Early life:...
Soli Sorabjee Soli Sorabjee Soli Jehangir Sorabjee is an Indian jurist.-Biography:Soli Sorabjee was born on March 9, 1930 in Bombay, and after an education at Government Law College, Bombay, was admitted to the bar in 1953...	07.04.1998 - 04.06.2004	Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
Milon K. Banerji Milon K. Banerji Milon Kumar Banerji was an Indian jurist who was Attorney General of India from 1992 to 1996 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Solicitor General from 1986 to 1989. He died on July 20, 2010 after a long illness, having suffered a stroke in December 2009. He was 82.-References:...	05.06.2004 - 07.06.2009	Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
Goolam Essaji Vahanvati Goolam Essaji Vahanvati Goolam Essaji Vahanvati is the Indian attorney general. He is the first Indian Muslim to hold the post of Attorney General. His term in office began in June 2009 and will last for three years. Before this, he was a Solicitor-General. Prior to being appointed Solicitor-General, he was...	08.06.2009 - incumbent	Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...