Law Officers & Law-Makers

1950 onwards

The Attorneys General of India

Sixteen terms, fifteen people

The Attorneys General of India have been: M.C. Setalvad (1950–63), C.K. Daphtary (1963–68), Niren De (1968–77), S.V. Gupte (1977–79), L.N. Sinha (1979–83), K. Parasaran (1983–89), Soli J. Sorabjee (1989–90), G. Ramaswamy (1990–92), Milon K. Banerji (1992–96), Ashok Desai (1996–98), Soli J. Sorabjee again (1998–2004), Milon K. Banerji again (2004–09), G.E. Vahanvati (2009–14), Mukul Rohatgi (2014–17), K.K. Venugopal (2017–22) and R. Venkataramani (from 2022). Sorabjee and Banerji each served twice.

• Longest-serving: M.C. Setalvad (about 13 years).
• Served twice: Soli Sorabjee and Milon K. Banerji.

The Solicitor General of India

A statutory office

Unlike the Attorney General, the Solicitor General is not a constitutional office; the post is created under the Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules 1987. The Solicitor General is the second law officer of the Union, assisted by Additional Solicitors General. C.K. Daphtary was the first; Tushar Mehta has held the office since 2018.

• Not a constitutional office.
• First: C.K. Daphtary.

1947 onwards

Union Law Ministers

From Ambedkar to Meghwal

Independent India's first Law Minister was Dr B.R. Ambedkar (1947–51). Other notable Law Ministers include Asoke Kumar Sen, H.R. Gokhale (during the Emergency), Shanti Bhushan (1977–79), Ram Jethmalani, Arun Jaitley, Kapil Sibal, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Kiren Rijiju. Arjun Ram Meghwal has been Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice since May 2023, and piloted the new criminal laws and the Women's Reservation Bill.

• First: B.R. Ambedkar.
• Since May 2023: Arjun Ram Meghwal (MoS, Independent Charge).

1955 onwards

The Law Commission of India

A non-statutory body

The Law Commission of independent India is set up by executive order for three-year terms to recommend legal reforms. The first, chaired by M.C. Setalvad (1955), produced the famous 14th Report on the reform of judicial administration (1958). It is not a constitutional or statutory body. The 23rd Law Commission, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Dinesh Maheshwari from April 2025, runs until August 2027.

• Constituted by executive order; not statutory.
• 23rd Commission: Justice Dinesh Maheshwari (from April 2025).

1834–1879

The Four Colonial Law Commissions

Codifying British India

The First Law Commission (1834), under Macaulay, drafted the Indian Penal Code. The Second (1853), under Sir John Romilly, sat in London and recommended codifying substantive civil law; the Third (1861) and Fourth (1879) produced drafts that became the Contract Act, the Transfer of Property Act, the Negotiable Instruments Act and other codes.