103.157.168.126: Wrote an insightful write-up.

2022-08-11T20:04:44Z

Wrote an insightful write-up.

New page

{{Short description|Indian law officer}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Use Indian English}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Solicitor General of India
| body =
| flag =
| flagsize =
| flagborder =
| flagcaption =
| insignia = Emblem of India.svg
| insigniasize =
| insigniacaption =
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| incumbent = [[Tushar Mehta]]
| incumbentsince = 11 October 2018
| type =
| status =
| department =
| style =
| member_of =
| reports_to = [[Attorney-General for India|Attorney General for India]]
| residence =
| seat =
| nominator =
| appointer = [[Appointments Committee of the Cabinet|ACC]]
| appointer_qualified =
| termlength = 3 years (per discretion of ACC)
| termlength_qualified =
| constituting_instrument =
| precursor =
| formation = 28 January 1950
| first = [[C. K. Daphtary]]
| last =
| abolished =
| succession =
| abbreviation = SGI
| unofficial_names =
| deputy = [[Additional Solicitor General of India|Addl. Solicitor Generals]]
| salary =
| website =
}}
{{Courts of India}}
The '''Solicitor General of India (SGI)''' is subordinate to the [[Attorney General of India|Attorney General for India]]. The SGI is the second-highest law officer of the country, assists the Attorney General, and is assisted by [[Additional Solicitor General of India|Additional Solicitor Generals of India]] (Addl. SGIs). The SGI and the Addl. SGIs advise the Government and appear on behalf of the Union of India in terms of the Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/judicial/Service%20Rules.pdf|title=Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987}}</ref> However, unlike the post of Attorney General for India, which is a Constitutional post under Article 76 of the [[Constitution of India]], the posts of the Solicitor General and the Additional Solicitors General are merely statutory.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) recommends the appointment and officially appoints the Solicitor General.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.greengazette.in/notices/the-president-is-pleased-to-appoint-shri-tushar-mehta-senior-advocate-as-solicitor-general_20181010-120-00019-00000.pdf|title=Extra Ordinary Gazette Notification for appointment}}</ref> The proposal for appointment of Solicitor General, Additional Solicitor General is generally moved at the level of Joint secretary (or Law Secretary) in the Department of Legal Affairs and after obtaining the approval of the Minister of Law & Justice, the proposal goes to the ACC and then to the president.

Currently, the Solicitor General of India is [[Tushar Mehta]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tushar Mehta is new SG |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tushar-mehta-is-new-sg/article25185968.ece |access-date=2018-11-03 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Duties==
The Solicitor General works under the Attorney General of India. The duties of the Solicitor General are laid out in Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987:<ref name="Rules 1987">{{cite web|title=Law Officers (Condites, 1987|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/judicial/Service%20Rules.pdf|publisher=Gazette of India|access-date=25 May 2014}}</ref>
*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 Government of India.
*to appear, whenever required, in the Supreme Court or in any High Court on behalf of the Government of India in cases (including suits, writ petitions, appeal and other proceedings) in which the Government of India is concerned as a party or is otherwise interested;
*to represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution; and
*to discharge such other functions as are conferred on a Law Officer by or under the Constitution or any other Law for the time being in force.

==Restrictions of private practice==
As law officers representing the [[Government of India]], SGIs are bound by certain restrictions concerning private practice. A law officer is not allowed to:
*hold briefs in any court for any party, except the Government of India or the government of a State or any University, Government School or College, local authority, Public Service Commission, Port Trust, Port Commissioners, Government aided or Government managed hospitals, a Government company, any Corporation owned or controlled by the State, any body or institution in which the Government has a preponderating interest;
*advice any party against the Government of India or a [[List of public sector undertakings in India|Public Sector Undertaking]], or in cases in which he is likely to be called upon to advise, or appear for, the Government of India or a Public Sector Undertaking;
*defend an accused person in a criminal prosecution, without the permission of the Government of India; or
*accept appointment to any office in any company or corporation without the permission of the Government of India;
*advise any Ministry or Department of Government of India or any statutory organisation or any Public Sector Undertaking unless the proposal or a reference in this regard is received through the [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Ministry of Law and Justice]], Department of Legal Affairs.<ref name="Rules 1987" />

==Fee and allowances payable==
Fee and allowances payable to the law officers (including [[Attorney General of India]], Solicitor General of India and the Additional Solicitors General) of the [[Government of India]] are as under:<ref>{{cite web|title=Fee and allowances payable to law officers|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/judicial/servicerules1.pdf|access-date=11 June 2014}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! S.No. !! Nomenclature of the item of work !! Rates of fees payable for appearance and other work
|-
| (1) || Suits, writ petitions, appeals and references under article 143 || Rs. 16,000/- per case per day
|-
| (2) || Special leave petitions and other applications || Rs. 10,000/- per case per day
|-
| (3) || Settling pleadings (including affidavits) || Rs. 5,000/- per pleading
|-
| (4) || Settling Statement of Case || Rs. 6,000/- per case
|-
| (5) || For giving opinions in statements of cases sent by the Ministry of Law || Rs. 10,000/- per case
|-
| (6) || For written submission before the Supreme Court, High Court, and Commissions of Inquiry or Tribunals and the like || Rs. 10,000/- per case
|-
| (7) || Appearance in Courts outside Delhi || Rs. 40,000/- per day per case
|}

In addition to the above fee payable for cases, a retainer fee is paid to the Solicitor General and the Addl. Solicitors General at the rate of Rs. 40,000, and Rs. 30,000 per month, respectively.

== List of incumbent Law Officers ==
The list of incumbent Law Officers (i.e. AGI, SGI, Addl. SGIs) as of 2 September 2022 are as follows:<ref name="List of Law Officers">{{cite web |title=List of Law Officers (As on 02.09.2022) |url=https://legalaffairs.gov.in/documents/list-law-officers |url-status=live |access-date= |publisher=Ministry of Law and Justice}}</ref><ref name="Solicitor general">{{cite web |url=http://www.vakilno1.com/luminaries/SolicitorGen.html |title=Solicitor general |publisher=Vakilno1.com |access-date=28 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920174712/http://vakilno1.com/luminaries/SolicitorGen.html |archive-date=20 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |List of Law Officers
|-
! colspan="2" |Attorney General for India
!Appointment
!Term Length
|-
| colspan="2" |[[R. Venkataramani]]
|1 October 2022
|{{Age in years and days|1 October 2022}}
|-
! colspan="2" |Solicitor General of India
!Appointment
!Term Length
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Tushar Mehta]]
|11 October 2018|| {{Age in years and days|11 October 2018}}
|-
! colspan="2" | Additional Solicitor Generals
!Appointment
! Term Length
|-
| Vikramjit Banerjee
| rowspan="11" |[[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]]
|5 March 2018|| {{Age in years and days|5 March 2018}}
|-
| Madhavi Goradia Diwan
|18 December 2018|| {{Age in years and days|18 December 2018}}
|-
| K.M. Nataraj
|14 January 2019|| {{Age in years and days|14 January 2019}}
|-
|Sanjay Jain
|17 January 2019
|{{Age in years and days|17 January 2019}}
|-
|Balbir Singh
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|Suryaprakash V. Raju
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|N. Venkataraman
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|Jayant K. Sud
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|Aishwarya Bhati
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|''Vacant''
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|''Vacant''
|N/A
|N/A
|-
| Rajdeepak Rastogi
|[[Rajasthan High Court|Rajasthan HC]]
|28 July 2014|| {{Age in years and days|28 July 2014}}
|-
| [[Satya Pal Jain]]
|[[Punjab and Haryana High Court|Punjab & Haryana HC]]
|8 April 2015|| {{Age in years and days|8 April 2015}}
|-
| Anil Chandrabali Singh
|[[Bombay High Court|Bombay HC]]
|9 July 2017|| {{Age in years and days|9 July 2017}}
|-
| Shashi Prakash Singh
|[[Allahabad High Court|Allahabad HC]]
|9 February 2018|| {{Age in years and days|9 February 2018}}
|-
| Nargund N. B.
|[[Karnataka High Court|Karnataka HC]]
|18 December 2019|| {{Age in years and days|18 December 2019}}
|-
| T. Surya Karan Reddy
|Southern Zone
|18 December 2019|| {{Age in years and days|18 December 2019}}
|-
| R. Sankaranaryanan
|[[Madras High Court|Madras HC]]
|30 June 2020|| {{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|Asok Kumar Chakrabarti
|[[Calcutta High Court|Calcutta HC]]
|9 July 2022|| {{Age in years and days|9 July 2022}}
|-
|Devang Girish Vyas
|[[Gujarat High Court|Gujarat HC]]
|30 June 2020
|{{Age in years and days|30 June 2020}}
|-
|Chetan Sharma
|[[Delhi High Court|Delhi HC]]
|1 July 2020
|{{Age in years and days|1 July 2020}}
|-
|Dr. Krishna Nandan Singh
|[[Patna High Court|Patna HC]]
|1 July 2020
|{{Age in years and days|1 July 2020}}
|}

== List of Solicitor Generals of India ==
The Solicitor Generals of India since independence are listed below:<ref name="Solicitor general"/>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6" |List of Solicitors General of India
|-
!#
! Solicitor General
!Term Start
!Term End!! Term Length !! Prime Ministers<ref>{{cite web|title=Former Prime Ministers |url=http://pmindia.gov.in/en/former-prime-ministers/ |publisher=PM India |access-date=2 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009232119/http://pmindia.gov.in/en/former-prime-ministers/ |archive-date= 9 October 2014 }}</ref>
|-
|1
| [[C. K. Daphtary|Chander Kishan Daphtary]] {{Ref|a}}
|28 January 1950
|1 March 1963|| {{Age in years and days|28 January 1950|1 March 1963}} || [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |2
| rowspan="2" | H. N. Sanyal
| rowspan="2" |2 March 1963
| rowspan="2" |9 September 1964|| rowspan="2" | {{Age in years and days|2 March 1963|9 September 1964}} || Jawaharlal Nehru
|-
|[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |3
| rowspan="2" | S. V. Gupta {{Ref|a}}
| rowspan="2" |10 September 1964
| rowspan="2" |16 September 1967|| rowspan="2" | {{Age in years and days|10 September 1964|16 September 1967}} || Lal Bahadur Shastri
|-
|[[Indira Gandhi]]
|-
|4
| [[Niren De]] {{Ref|a}}
|30 September 1967
|30 October 1968|| {{Age in years and days|30 September 1967|30 October 1968}} || Indira Gandhi
|-
|5
| Jagadish Swarup
|5 June 1969
|4 June 1972|| {{Age in years and days|5 June 1969|4 June 1972}} || Indira Gandhi
|-
|6
| [[L. N. Sinha|Lal Narayan Sinha]]
|17 July 1972
|5 April 1977|| {{Age in years and days|17 July 1972|5 April 1977}} || Indira Gandhi
|-
|7
| [[Shyam Nath Kacker|S. N. Kacker]]
|5 April 1977
|2 August 1979|| {{Age in years and days|5 April 1977|2 August 1979}} || [[Morarji Desai]]
|-
|8
| [[Soli Sorabjee|Soli Jehangir Sorabjee]] {{Ref|a}}
|9 August 1979
|25 January 1980|| {{Age in years and days|9 August 1979|25 January 1980}} || [[Charan Singh]]
|-
|9
| [[K. Parasaran|Keshava Parasaran]] {{Ref|a}}
|6 March 1980
|8 August 1983|| {{Age in years and days|6 March 1980|8 August 1983}} || Indira Gandhi
|-
|10
| [[Milon K. Banerji|Milon Kumar Banerji]] {{Ref|a}}
|4 April 1986
|3 April 1989|| {{Age in years and days|4 April 1986|3 April 1989}} || [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
|-
|11
| [[Ashok Desai]] {{Ref|a}}
|18 December 1989
|2 December 1990|| {{Age in years and days|18 December 1989|2 December 1990}} || [[V. P. Singh]]
|-
|12
| A. D. Giri
|4 December 1990
|1 December 1991|| {{Age in years and days|4 December 1990|1 December 1991}} || [[Chandra Shekhar]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |13
| rowspan="2" | Dipankar P. Gupta
| rowspan="2" |9 April 1992
| rowspan="2" |10 April 1997|| rowspan="2" | {{Age in years and days|9 April 1992|10 April 1997}} || [[PV Narasimha Rao|P. V. Narasimha Rao]]
|-
|[[H. D. Deve Gowda]]
|-
|14
| [[T. R. Andhyarujina|Tehmtan R. Andhyarujina]]
|11 April 1997
|4 April 1998|| {{Age in years and days|11 April 1997|4 April 1998}} || [[Inder Kumar Gujral]]
|-
|15
| [[Nitte Santhosh Hegde]] {{Ref|b}}
|10 April 1998
|7 January 1999|| {{Age in years and days|10 April 1998|7 January 1999}} || [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
|-
|16
| [[Harish Salve]]
|1 November 1999
|3 November 2002|| {{Age in years and days|1 November 1999|3 November 2002}} || Atal Bihari Vajpayee
|-
|17
| [[Kirit Raval]]
|4 November 2002
|19 April 2004|| {{Age in years and days|4 November 2002|19 April 2004}} || Atal Bihari Vajpayee
|-
|18
| [[G. E. Vahanvati|Goolam Essaji Vahanvati]] {{Ref|a}}
|20 June 2004
|7 June 2009|| {{Age in years and days|20 June 2004|7 June 2009}} || [[Manmohan Singh]]
|-
|19
| [[Gopal Subramaniam]]
|15 June 2009
|14 July 2011|| {{Age in years and days|15 June 2009|14 July 2011}} || Manmohan Singh
|-
|20
| [[Rohinton Nariman|Rohinton Fali Nariman]] {{Ref|b}}
|23 July 2011
|4 February 2013|| {{Age in years and days|23 July 2011|4 February 2013}} || Manmohan Singh
|-
|21
| [[Mohan Parasaran]]
|15 February 2013
|26 May 2014|| {{Age in years and days|15 February 2013|26 May 2014}} || Manmohan Singh
|-
|22
| [[Ranjit Kumar]]
|7 June 2014
|20 October 2017|| {{Age in years and days|7 June 2014|20 October 2017}} || [[Narendra Modi]]
|-
|23
| [[Tushar Mehta]]
|11 October 2018
|''Incumbent''|| {{Age in years and days|11 October 2018}} ||Narendra Modi
|}

== Notes ==

: 1.{{note|a}}Later appointed as the Attorney-General for India.
: 2.{{note|b}}Later appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of India.

==See also==
*[[Advocate general (India)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in Official website of Supreme Court of India]
*[http://lawmin.nic.in/la/lawofficers.htm List of law officers of India]

[[Category:Solicitors General of India| ]]
[[Category:Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:Supreme Court of India]]

Solicitor General of India - Revision history

103.157.168.126: Wrote an insightful write-up.