The BJP-led government has paid more than Rs.1 million in retainer fees for the top two law enforcement officials in the nation, according to the Ministry of Law and Justice’s response to an RTI request.
According to the Ministry of Law and Justice’s response to a Right to Information (RTI) request, the BJP-led government has paid more than Rs.1 crore in retainer fees for the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, the top two legal representatives in the nation.
The sum of money paid upfront to retain the services of a lawyer is known as a retainer fee. In addition to the money given to the attorneys to present and defend each client’s case, the fee is also paid.
The Attorney General of India used to receive a retainer fee of Rs.54,000 per month from September 2012 to September 2015, according to the Ministry’s statement. As of October 1, 2015, this was doubled to Rs.79,000 per month. Similar to this, the Solicitor General’s monthly retainer fee from the Centre raised to Rs.60,000 per month in 2015 from Rs.40,000 per month.
Between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2022, the Attorney General received a total of Rs.83,41,000 in retainer fees, while the Solicitor General received a total of Rs.56,08,351 during the same time frame.
Since the BJP-led administration took office in 2014, the Attorney General has received advice from two top attorneys. From 2014 to 2017, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi served as the 14th Attorney General. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal was named Attorney General after he resigned at the end of his three-year term. On September 30, he will leave his position. According to sources, Rohatgi is prepared to retake the position of Attorney General when Venugopal leaves at the end of the month.
The Solicitor General position, on the other hand, was unfilled for virtually the entire first term of the BJP-led administration. Tushar Mehta served as the Additional Solicitor General for four years until being named the Solicitor General in October 2018. Since then, he has taken the lead in the majority of the Center’s courtroom challenges.
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