UPSC COURSE

VIDEO- 84

POLITY

CONSTITUTIONAL BODIES
(PART 1)

ATTORNEY GENERAL,
ADVOCATE GENERAL
UPSC, SPSC
BY DEWASHISH AWASTHI
 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIA
The Attorney General is the first law officer of the Country.

He is the chief advisor to the government of India in all legal matters.

Article 76 of the Constitution of India provides for the office of the Attorney General of India.

APPOINTMENT:

The Attorney General of India is appointed by the President.

M. C. Setalvad
QUALIFICATIONS:

Citizen of India.

Qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. (Already done in S.C) K. K. Venugopal

TERM:

The term of office not mentioned in the Constitution.

The Attorney General of India holds the office during the pleasure of the President.
REMOVAL:

The Attorney General of India is removed by the President of India.

The Procedure and the grounds for the removal of the Attorney General is not mentioned in the
Constitution.

RESIGNATION:

The Attorney General submits the resignation to the President of India.

Conventionally he resigns when COMs resign or is replaced as he is appointed on their advice

SALARY:

The salary of the Attorney General is decided by the President from time to time. Generally it is
equal to that of salary of the Supreme Court judge.

FUNCTIONS

First law officer of the country.

The Attorney General of India has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of both
the houses of Parliament or in the joint session of the parliament without a right to vote. (Article
88)

Note: Only the members of the Parliament have the right to vote in their respective house.
Gives advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters which are referred by the President.

Performs functions of legal character that are assigned by the President.

Discharges the functions conferred by the Constitution or any other law.

He appears on behalf of the Government of India in all cases in the Supreme Court / High Court in which the
Government of India is concerned.

Represents the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under
Article 143 of the Constitution.

He has the right to audience in any court in the territory of India.

The Attorney General of India enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a
Member of Parliament (Article 105)

Difference between Attorney General & Solicitor General:

•Solicitor General is subordinate to the Attorney General of India and works under him.

•The Solicitor General for India is the second law officer of the country, assists the Attorney
General

•Unlike the post of Attorney General of 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 Solicitor General of India is appointed for the period of 3 years while Attorney general no
fixed term.
 Advocate General of State

NOTE: This office is just similar to the office of the Attorney-General.

Article 165 of the Indian Constitution provides for the office of the Advocate General at the states.

The Advocate General is the first law officer at the state level.

APPOINTMENT:

The Advocate General is appointed by the Governor.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The Advocate General must be qualified to be appointed as a Judge of a High Court.

TERM:

The Advocate General holds the office during the pleasure of the Governor.

REMOVAL:

The Advocate general is removed by the Governor.

RESIGNATION:

The Advocate General submits the resignation to the Governor.

SALARY:

Decided by the Governor.

FUNCTIONS:

The Advocate General is the first law officer of the state.

The Advocate General gives advice to the Government of the state upon such legal matters which are
referred by the Governor.
The Advocate General appears on behalf of the Government of the state in all cases in any Court in
which the Government of the state is concerned.

The Advocate General has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of both the
houses of state Legislature without a right to vote. (Article-177)

NOTE: Only the members of the State Legislature have the right to vote in their respective house.

The Advocate General enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a
Member of State legislature. (Article 194)
 Civil Services in India
The Civil Services of India runs the entire administration of the country.

•Central services by central government → UPSC etc

•State services by state Government → State PSC etc

•Common services to Union & States → All India Services.

 Articles 308 – 314 in Part 14 of constitution deals with provisions with regard to All india
services, Central services & State services.

309. Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State. (Parliament
&State legislature)

310. Tenure of office of persons serving the Union or a State.

Member of AISs or Central services hold office during the pleasure of President & in case of state services,
of governor
 President / Governor may provide for compensation if →

•Post is abolished before expiration of contractual period

•He is required to vacate the post for reasons not connected with misconduct on his part

Safeguard of Civil Servants (ARTICLE 311)

•No person holding a civil post under Union or states shall be dismissed or removed by an authority
subordinate to appointing authority

•No such person is reduced, dismissed or removed in rank except after an enquiry in which he has been
informed of the charges against him & given a reasonable opportunity of being heard wrt those charges
 All India Services
•Serve centre as well as states; recruited by ministry of personnel in consultation with UPSC

•Are under direct control of ministry for ex. IAS, IPS, IfoS (1966)

•If Rajya sabha passes a resolution supported by not less than 2/3rd of members present & voting, then
Parliament may by law provide for creation of one or more all India services. (Article 312)

•Salary & Pension – State Government

All India Service Cadre Controlling Authority

Indian Administrative
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Service (IAS)
Indian Police Service (IPS) Ministry of Home Affairs
Indian Forest Service (IFoS) Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
 Central services

Services whose members serve only the Union Government are termed Central Civil Services. Example – IRS ,
Indian postal services, Indian economic services, Indian engineering services etc

State services

Services whose members serve only the State Government are termed State Civil Services. Example-
DSP , Deputy collector etc
 UPSC
Article 315: There shall be a Public Service commission for the Union and Public service Commission
for each state.

UPSC is a Constitutional body.

The UPSC conduct examinations for All India Services and other central services.

COMPOSITION:

The UPSC consists of a chairman and some other members.

.
APPOINTMENT:

The Chairman and other members are appointed by the President.

STRENGTH (NUMBER OF MEMBERS):

The strength is decided by the President of India.

In general the UPSC consists of 9 to 11 members including the Chairman.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The qualifications are not prescribed by the Constitution.

But, at least half of the members in UPSC should have held office for at least 10 years either under
the Government of India OR Government of a state
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE:

Decided by the President from time to time.

The conditions of service should not be varied to their disadvantage.

TERM:

The Chairman or other members hold office for a term of

6 years

OR

Until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

After completion of the term the Chairman or other membera, are not eligible for reappointment in the same
position.
RESIGNATION:

The Chairman or members submit the resignation to the President of India.

REPORT OF UPSC: (Article 323)

The UPSC submits the annual report to the President of India

AND

The President places the report before the Parliament.

The report of UPSC is discussed in the Parliament.

Arvind Saxena
The recommendations of UPSC are not binding but advisory in nature.
REMOVAL:

The President can remove the chairman or any other member of UPSC if

• The Chairman or member is adjusted as an insolvent.

OR

• Engages during the term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of office.

OR

• In the opinion of the President is not fit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body.
 REMOVAL ON THE GROUNDS OF MISBEHAVIOR:

The President can also remove the Chairman or a member of UPSC for misbehavior.

In the case of misbehavior the President has to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for an enquiry.

The President can remove the Chairman or member on the advice that is tendered by the Supreme Court.

The advice tendered (given) by the Supreme Court is binding on the President.

During the course of enquiry the President can suspend the Chairman or the member.
AFTER RETIREMENT:

The Chairman of UPSC after retirement is not eligible for further employment under the government of
India or government of a state.

A member of UPSC after retirement is eligible for appointment as the Chairman of UPSC.

Sh. H.K. Kripalani 1 April 1947-13 January 1949

Sir Ross Barker 1926-1932

 SPSC
STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

COMPOSITION:

There is a chairman for SPSC.

There are other members for SPSC.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The qualifications of Chairman and members are not specified in the Constitution.

As nearly as one half of the members should have at least 10 years of experience either under the
Government of India or Government of a state.
APPOINTMENT:

The Chairman and the members are appointed by the Governor.

STRENGTH:

The strength is decided by the Governor from time to time.

TERM:

The Chairman and other members of the SPSC hold office for a term of

6 years
OR

Until they attain the age of 62 years whichever is earlier.

RESIGNATION:

The Chairman and members submit the resignation.

REPORT OF SPSC:

The SPSC submits the annual report to the Governor.

The Governor places the report of SPSC before the State Legislature.

The report of SPSC is discussed in the State Legislature.

The recommendations of SPSC are advisory in nature and not binding in nature
REMOVAL:

The Chairman and members of SPSC are removed by the President. (Not by the Governor).

NOTE: Remember the Chairman and members of SPSC are appointed by the Governor.

The President can remove the chairman or any other member of SPSC if

• The Chairman or member is adjusted as an insolvent.

OR

• The chairman or member engages during the term of office in any paid employment outside the duties
of office.

OR

• The chairman or member, in the opinion of the President is unfit to continue in office by reason of
infirmity of mind or body.
 REMOVAL ON THE GROUNDS OF MISBEHAVIOR:

The President can also remove the Chairman or a member of SPSC for misbehavior.

In the case of misbehavior the President has to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for an
enquiry.

If the Supreme Court upholds the cause of removal and advises so then the President can
remove the Chairman or member of SPSC.

The advice tendered (given) by the Supreme Court is binding on the President.

During the course of enquiry the Governor can suspend the Chairman or member pending the
final removal order of the President on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court.
The Chairman of SPSC after retirement cannot be reappointed as the Chairman of the same SPSC.

The Chairman of SPSC after retirement can be appointed as

The Chairman of UPSC

A member of UPSC

The Chairman of other SPSC

A MEMBER OF SPSC AFTER RETIREMENT:

A member of SPSC after retirement cannot be reappointed as a member in the same SPSC.

A member of SPSC can be appointed as

The Chairman of same SPSC.

The Chairman of other SPSC.

The Chairman of other UPSC.

A member of UPSC.