History · Polity

Attorneys General of India

Every Attorney General since 1950. The Attorney General is India’s top law officer. Tenure in years, months and days, counted to 7 November 2026 for the person in office.

Exam facts

• Current Attorney GeneralR. Venkataramani (since 1 Oct 2022)
• Longest tenureM. C. Setalvad: 13 yrs 1 month 1 day
• Shortest tenure (not counting acting)Soli J. Sorabjee: 11 months 23 days
• ConstitutionArticle 76
• Appointed byThe President
• QualificationSame as a Supreme Court judge
• Right in ParliamentCan speak in both Houses but cannot vote (Article 88)
• Two separate termsSoli Sorabjee and Milon Banerji

Full list with tenure

1. 1
   M. C. Setalvad28 Jan 1950 – 1 Mar 196313 yrs 1 month 1 dayLongest-serving Attorney General
2. 2
   C. K. Daphtary2 Mar 1963 – 30 Oct 19685 yrs 7 months 28 days
3. 3
   Niren De1 Nov 1968 – 31 Mar 19778 yrs 4 months 30 days
4. 4
   S. V. Gupte1 Apr 1977 – 8 Aug 19792 yrs 4 months 7 days
5. 5
   L. N. Sinha9 Aug 1979 – 8 Aug 19833 yrs 11 months 30 days
6. 6
   K. Parasaran9 Aug 1983 – 8 Dec 19896 yrs 3 months 29 days
7. 7
   Soli J. Sorabjee9 Dec 1989 – 2 Dec 199011 months 23 days
8. 8
   G. Ramaswamy3 Dec 1990 – 23 Nov 19921 yr 11 months 20 days
9. 9
   Milon K. Banerji24 Nov 1992 – 8 Jul 19963 yrs 7 months 14 days
10. 10
    Ashok Desai9 Jul 1996 – 6 Apr 19981 yr 8 months 28 days
11. 11
    Soli J. Sorabjee (second term)7 Apr 1998 – 4 Jun 20046 yrs 1 month 28 days
12. 12
    Milon K. Banerji (second term)5 Jun 2004 – 7 Jun 20095 yrs 2 days
13. 13
    G. E. Vahanvati8 Jun 2009 – 11 Jun 20145 yrs 3 days
14. 14
    Mukul Rohatgi19 Jun 2014 – 18 Jun 20172 yrs 11 months 30 days
15. 15
    K. K. Venugopal1 Jul 2017 – 30 Sep 20225 yrs 2 months 29 days
16. 16
    R. Venkataramani1 Oct 2022 – present4 yrs 1 month 6 days so far