Senior advocate R. Venkataramani has been appointed the new Attorney-General (A-G) by President Droupadi Murmu for a period of 3 years.
- Mr. Venkataramani will succeed K.K. Venugopal, whose term comes to an end on September 30.
- With over four decades of practice at the Supreme Court, Mr. Venkataramani has specialised in various branches.
About Attorney-General (A-G) ?
- The Attorney-General (A-G) is the Government of India’s first law officer, and has the right of audience in all courts of the country.
- 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.
- The A-G for India is not, like the A-G for England and Wales and the A-G of the United States, a member of the Cabinet. In the US, the AG is part of the president’s cabinet, a group of people ranked just below the president with regard to legal authority in the United States.
- Under Article 76(1) of the Constitution of India, the A-G is appointed by the President from among persons who are “qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court”.
- 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.”
