List of Attorney Generals of India

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In India, the Attorney General is being appointed by the President of India as directed under Article 76(1) of the Constitution. The Attorney General enjoys his tenure till the pleasure of the President of India. K.K. Venugopal is the current Attorney General of India. K.K. Venugopal was appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee of India. He took his position on June 30 since the year 2017.

In this content, we will harness information about the Office of the Attorney General of India and look into the legal matters performed in this department. Also, we will present the list of attorney generals of India.

About K.K. Venugopal – The Present Attorney General of India 

The Attorney General must be a person who is qualified to be appointed as a Supreme Judge in the Supreme Court. Articles 76 and 78 of the Indian constitution, direct that there should be an Attorney General of India who will represent the highest law officer of the country. The Attorney General of India shall assist the Central Government in legal matters. Our present Attorney Generals of India is K.K. Venugopal is the 15th Attorney General appointed by the president of India. He was appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee and he took his charge from 30th June from the year 2017.

Next, we will present the list of names of all the Attorney General of India

List Representing the Attorney Generals of our Country

Our first attorney general of India is M.C Setalvad who served the longest term from 28th of January in the year 1950 to 1st of March 1963. Apart from the first attorney generals of India, we will enlist all the attorney generals of India who followed right after him.

Appointment and Removal of the Attorney General of India – The President Decides

As already mentioned, the president of India will appoint the Attorney general of India. The person who is appointed in this respectable position must also be qualified to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of India. This implies:

• the person should be a citizen of India 

• and also, a judge of some high court serving at least five years in that high court or,

• he must be an advocate of some high court for at least ten years or,

• he should be an eminent jurist, and this must be the opinion of the president.

Our constitution does not provide any fixed tenure or serving time for the Attorney General, rather he holds office till the pleasure of the president. He remains at a possibility to be removed by the president at any time. There is no exact procedure or any ground mentioned in the constitution for his removal process.

The Attorney General will receive such remuneration as the President shall determine. The constitution, in its books, did not fix the remuneration of the AG.

What are the Duties and Functions of the Attorney General of India?

Below Mentioned are the Duties and Functions of the Attorney General of India:

• The Attorney General gives advice to the Government of India and with his direction, the legal matters are imposed, all these matters are referred to or assigned to him by the president of India.

• Attorney General performs other duties which display his legal character. This work or function is referred to or assigned to him by the president of India.

• AG discharges his functions which are conferred on him by or under the Constitution or under any other law.

In Light of Performing His Official Duties:

• The AG will appear on behalf of the government of India in all the cases fought in the Supreme Court where the Government of India is concerned.

• The AG also appears on behalf of the government of India in any reference which is made by the president to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the constitution.

• He also appears on behalf of the government of India in any case which is fought in a high court in which the Government of India is concerned, if the Government of India requires so to be done.

Rights and Limitations Enjoyed and Restricted by the Attorney General of India

Following are the Rights discussed by the Attorney General of India:

• In the performance of his legal duties, he has the full right of audience in all the courts which is present in the territory of India.

• The AG has the right to speak or to take part in any legal proceedings happening in the Houses of Parliament and also in their joint sittings, but without a right to vote.

• He has the full authority to speak, this is a right of his. He also can take part in the meeting of any committee of the Parliament of which he is named as a member, but without a right to vote.

• The AG enjoys all the privileges and immunities as AG which are available to a member of the parliament.

The Limitations which are Placed on the Attorney General are as Follows:

• He cannot advise the government or hold notions against the Government of India.

• He must not defend the accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India.

• He cannot accept the appointment as a director in any company without prior permission from the government.

• Also, this is to be noted that the AG is not debarred from practicing legal practices privately. 

• AG does not serve as the government servant as he is not paid any fixed salary and his remuneration is decided by the president of India.

Did You Know?

• The Senior advocate named K. K Venugopal presided over as the attorney general, representing the top law officer of the Union government, on 1st of July in the year 2017, succeeding former Attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi.

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• After his completion of tenure in the year 2020, the Senior advocate K. K Venugopal on Wednesday reappointed as the Attorney General of India for one year, read the law ministry notification.

• The attorney general generally has a tenure of three years. When Venugopal's first term as AG was about to end in the last year, he made a request to the government of India to give him another one-year tenure as he was advancing in age. He is currently 90 years.

• One Article Read: "The President is pleased to reappoint Shri K. K Venugopal, Senior Advocate as Attorney General for India for a period of one year with effect from July 1, 2021," this notification was issued by the Department of Legal Affairs under the law ministry.