Attorney General of India

In News 

• Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi has declined the government’s offer to be Attorney General (A-G) for India .

About the Attorney General for India

• The Constitution of India places the post of the A-G on a special footing. 
• The A-G is the Government of India’s first law officer, and has the right of audience in all courts of the country.
• Eligible:  Under Article 76(1), the A-G is appointed by the President from among persons who are “qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court”.
• Term: Article 76(4) says “the Attorney-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine.”
• Power and Functions: Article 76(2) of the Constitution says “it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the President”.
  • The A-G is also supposed to “discharge the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other law for the time being in force”.
  • Under Article 88, the “Attorney-General of India shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, either House, any joint sitting of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament of which he may be named a member”.
    • However, he “shall not by virtue of this article be entitled to vote” in the House.

Source:IE