Advocate General of State - UPSC Indian Polity Notes

Article 165 of the Indian Constitution is related to the office of Advocate General of State. He is the highest law officer of the state. It is important for the UPSC 2023 examination aspirants to know relevant facts about Advocate General in India, as it is important for both Prelims and UPSC Mains GS 2 (Indian Polity.)

Table of Contents:

Definition of Advocate General of State

The highest law officer of the states in India is called the Advocate General of State.

Some important points about the Advocate General of State in India, for UPSC, are:

1. In the Order of Precedence, Additional Solicitor General is above the Advocate General of State.
2. The right to be eligible for the post of Advocate General of State is conferred to only the Indian citizens, and foreigners are not eligible to hold this public office.
3. He has full right to appear in any court of the state.
4. He cannot vote in any proceedings of the houses of the state legislature or any committee initiated by the state legislature. He though has a right to speak and be a part of such proceedings.

Who appoints the Advocate General of State?

The governor appoints the advocate general of state on the advice of the council of ministers of the state.. The person who is eligible to hold the office of advocate general in India must meet the following criteria:

1. He must be an Indian Citizen
2. He should be eligible to be appointed as the judge of the High Court; i.e. he must meet one of the following eligibility criteria:
   • A barrister having experience of more than 5 years.
   • A civil servant with an experience of more than 10 years along with an experience as a servant in Zila Court for at least 3 years.
   • A pleader over 10 years in any high court
3. He shouldn’t be more than 62 years of age, as is the age qualification for a High Court Judge.

Read about Governor and High Court from the links below:

Term and Removal of Advocate General of State

• The Constitution does not fix the term of Advocate General in India. He remains in the office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• The Constitution does not contain the procedure and grounds to remove the Advocate General of State. Governor can remove him/her at any point in time.
• Resignation of Advocate General – He can resign from the public office by submitting the resignation letter to the state governor.
• Conventionally, when a council of ministers of a state government resigns, the advocate general of state too puts down his papers.

Read about Constitution, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers from the links given below:

The major duties and functions of the Advocate General of State are mentioned below:

1. He is responsible to advise the state government on the legal matters that the governor refers to him.
2. He also has to perform all the duties legal characteristics as are assigned to him by the state governor.
3. He is bound by the Constitution for such duties and functions as is mentioned therein or any other constitutional law.

The remuneration received by the Advocate General of State is not fixed by the Indian Constitution. It varies according to the states. State governor determines the salary of the advocate general in India.

Some current updates regarding the salary of Advocate General of States (November 2020):

• The salary of law officers in Punjab has been increased by the state government:
  1. Junior Most Law Officer/Assistant Advocate General – Rs. 55000/month
  2. Deputy Advocate General and Senior Deputy Advocate General – Rs. 90000/month
  3. Establishment officers – Rs. 40000/month
  4. Advocate General – Estimated to be Rs. 1.25 lakh/month

Note: There can be junior, deputy, and senior advocates general in an office of the state advocate general.

Article 76 of the Indian Constitution deals with the Attorney General of India, while Article 165 deals with the office of Advocate General of India.

The office of Advocate General of State corresponds with the office of Attorney General of India as the former is the chief law officer of the state and the latter is the highest law officer of India.

Legal matters of the state are referred to the Advocate General while the legal matters of the union or the central government are referred to the Attorney General of India.

Aspirants can read the functions, appointment, powers and important facts about the Attorney General of India, for UPSC in the linked article.

The list of articles related to the office of Advocate General of State are mentioned in the table below:

Other related topics concerning Constitutional articles are mentioned below:

List of Advocate General of State

The list of state-wise advocate general in India is given below:

*The Advocate General post for Arunachal Pradesh is vacant ever since Nilay Ananda Dutta passed away on September 19, 2021

Reference – [Wikipedia]