India has offices of the Attorney General of India at the Central level and Advocate General at the state level [Article 165 of the Constitution], who are the chief legal advisors in their respective jurisdictions for the governments. They are elected president of India with the advice of the Union Cabinet [Article 76 (1) of the Constitution]. They hold office at the pleasure of the president or governor. R.Venkatramani has been the new Attorney General of India since October 2022. The president, in aid and advice of the Council of Ministers [Article 76 (4) of the Constitution], has the power to remove the attorney general of India. The attorney General is qualified to be the judge of the supreme court and has the rights of audience in all courts in the territory of India [Article 76 (1) & (3) of the Constitution]. The term of the Attorney General is not fixed, and the process of his removal is not defined in Indian Constitution.
Unlike India, there are 50 states in the US, and each state has an Attorney General elected through a process of election and serves four years generally except in the States of Vermont, Maine and certain other exceptions. The Supreme Court appoints the attorney General in Tennessee for eight years, and there is no office of Attorney General in seven states. State Attorney General have the power to enforce both state and federal laws. The Attorney General is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the state’s laws. He is the state’s Chief Legal advisor and chief law enforcement officer. There are 23 Democratic and 27 Republican Attorney General of the State. The Attorney General is prevented from tendering legal advice to private individuals or representing them.
Impeachment of a public officer in the United States is a constitutional process. The United States Congress exercises the authority to remove civil officers of the United States from its office through a two-stage process:
- The first step is the process of impeachment, which requires a majority vote of the United States House of Representatives.
- Impeachment is followed by a trial conducted by the Senate, where the Senate sits as a jury.
- The presiding officer of the trial is the Vice President, except for the president of the United States, where the chief justice presides. Removing the person from his office requires two-thirds of the senators present to vote.
Attorney General Ken Paxton was immediately suspended, and the charges included bribery and breach of public trust. The impeachment process in the Texas House of Representatives is like that of the federal. In the present case, now the house will hold the trial in the Ken Paxton case.
About the author
