Advocate General
Introduction:
An Advocate General is the foremost law officer to
a state government appointed by the Governor of each State under the provisions
of Article 165 of the Constitution of India. The position of Advocate General
is similar to that of Attorney General of India (highest legal officer of the
Government of India). The only difference is that an Advocate General does all
the work at the state level.
The Office of the Advocate General is highly
constitutional and is an illustrious one. Advocate General has been endowed
with all administrative and financial powers. He is the head of the Advocate
General Office and is assisted by a team of Law Officers such as Additional
Advocates General, Sr. Deputy Advocates General, Deputy Advocates General and
Assistant Advocates General. The Advocate-general shall also exercise overall
supervision over the offices of the Government Pleaders, Additional Government
Pleaders, State Public Prosecutors, Additional State Public Prosecutors, and
High Court Government Pleaders. These Law officers are basically engaged to
deal with litigation work under the guidance and supervision of the Advocate
General. The work relating to various subjects in the High Court is distributed
among different Government Advocates and Government Pleaders. Similarly, the
criminal work is distributed among the State Public Prosecutors, Additional
State Public Prosecutors and others.
Eligibility:
Those who aspire to be an Advocate General is
required to have a legal education and a membership in any state bar council.
To be an Advocate General of the State, the person
must be qualified to become a Judge of a High Court and for that a person must:
· be a citizen of
India
· have been an
advocate of a High Court for at least 10 years, or of two or more such courts
in succession
· have held
judicial office in India for a period of at least 10 yrs
The High Court Judges/Advocate Generals hold
office up to the age of 62 years.
The Advocate general is not a political appointee
and is selected through a high level committee. As the Advocate General
represents the whole state, he should have the courage to tell the government
of any wrong or mollified decision it takes. So a forthright, intelligent
person in the state is selected as Advocate General.
Remuneration:
Pay Scale of Advocate General varies greatly
depending on the type of the cases (civil/criminal) and the courts they appear.
The Advocate-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor and
receives such remuneration as may be determined by the Governor. The Advocate
General of any state of India is offered a monthly remuneration in the
form of fees for appearance in the courts. They get higher fee for
appearance in the high court, and more for appearance in the Supreme Court on
behalf of the state government. Advocate General also receives perks
in the form of house accommodation, transportation etc.
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