Attorney General of India

Attorney General of India

The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. The Attorney General for India is appointed by the President of India under Article 76(1) of the Constitution of India and holds office during the pleasure of the President.

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 role of the Attorney General is not limited to merely acting as a lawyer for the Government of India, the Attorney General is a constitutional functionary and is also obliged to discharge the functions under the Constitution as well as under any other law.

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 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 and four Additional Solicitors General. Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the Attorney General of India does not have any executive authority. Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.

List of Attorney Generals of India:

S No. Name Office Tenure
1. M. C. Setalvad 28 January 1950 – 1 March 1963
2. C.K.Daphtary 2 March 1963 – 30 October 1968
3. Niren De 1 November 1968 – 31 March 1977
4. S.V. Gupte 1 April 1977 – 8 August 1979
5. L.N. Sinha 9 August 1979 – 8 August 1983
6. K. Parasaran 9 August 1983 – 8 December 1989
7. Soli Sorabjee 9 December 1989 – 2 December 1990
8. Milon K. Banerji 21 November 1992 – 8 July 1996
9. Ashok Desai 9 July 1996 – 6 April 1998
10. Soli Sorabjee 7 April 1998 – 4 June 2004
11. Milon K. Banerji 5 June 2004 – 7 June 2009
12. Goolam Essaji Vahanvati 8 June 2009 – 11 June 2014
13. Mukul Rohatgi 12 June 2014 – 11 June 2017 (Incumbent)