Lawyer / Public Prosecutor

Who is a public prosecutor?

A public prosecutor is a lawyer by profession who is appointed to argue and present the details in criminal trials on behalf of the central government or state government.

What does a Public prosecutor do?

• A public prosecutor’s duty is to understand the criminal case with end to end details and present it with the best interest of the public of the state.

• The main role and responsibility of a public prosecutor are to act impartially without any bias and fill in the court with facts of the case along with evidence documents, videos, images etc. so that the judgment can arrive easily.

Who can become a Public prosecutor?

Anyone can get into Law school and follow a career into Public Prosecution after Class 12th.

What are the skills required?

The role of a public prosecutor requires one to have plenty of knowledge in the field of law and justice. Along with a degree in law, one needs to have extensive knowledge in law and order. A lawyer can be appointed as a public prosecutor in high court if and only if he has an experience of 7 years of legal practice in the high court. The other behavioural skills that are required are

1. Strong communication skills

2. Intelligent argument and counter argumentative skills

3. Patience

4. Enthusiasm for public service

5. Extrovert nature

6. Ability to perform under pressure

7. Experience in handling opponents

Good oratorical and articulation skills can make a good lawyer into a great public prosecutor.

Top colleges offering courses on Law

A public prosecutor should first graduate from a law college and then practice in the high court for a long period of time. Here is a list of top colleges in India that offers courses in Law:

1. National Law school of India University, Bangalore

2. National Law University, Delhi

3. NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

4. West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

5. Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar

6. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

7. National Law University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

8. Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Each of these universities offers a Bachelor of Law (LLB) which is 3 years course duration.

You may refer to 9CC’s 9Rankings for Law for best of the best college recommendations.

What is the Career Scope for a Public Prosecutor in India?

• Public Prosecutors are judicial counselors and are considered as officers of court. 

• They are the sole in-charge of the trial and appeal related to court meetings and hearings.

• The public prosecutor is a Gazette officer in Group A grade. They are appointed by criminal procedure code and there are many officers who are promoted as public prosecutors from regular cadre.

• Sometimes a selection is conducted by the public service commission.

• A public prosecutor can serve his term as long as he/she wishes and the next level will be to become a judge in high court.

Some law entrance exams are:

• Common-Law Admission Test (CLAT)
• LSAT India - Law School Admission Test
• AIBE (All India Bar Exam)
• All India Law Entrance Test (AILET)

How much money does a Public prosecutor make?

The salary of a Public prosecutor depends upon their role and experience. It is different for public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors and chief public prosecutors and directors. Generally, the highest pay scale is around seven to eleven lakhs fifty thousand in India.

The salary estimates are listed in the following link. There is also an update on pay scale for assistant public prosecutors. Sometimes public prosecutors are paid on a consolidated pay basis. The CBI has issued a notice to select public prosecutors with consolidated pay of Rs 60000 per month

What are the Books and study material available?

To become a Public prosecutor, one can follow the following course contents and study the following books:

• Legal Aptitude For The CLAT – Workbook: A Workbook A.P. Bhardwaj

• A Modern Approach To Logical Reasoning by R. S. Aggarwal

• Analytical Reasoning by M K Pandey

• Lucent's Objective general knowledge: Lucent

• General knowledge by Edgar Thorpe

• Current affairs: competition in focus (refer sites: gktoday & cloud affairs )

• Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations by R. S. Aggarwal

• CLAT DIAGNOSTIC PAPER FOR LAW ENTRANCE TO NLU

• Mathematics Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Exam by Abhijit Guha

• CLAT Study Material Book Notes Common Law Admission Test

• AILET DIAGNOSTIC PAPER FOR LAW ENTRANCE TO NLU

• Self Study Guide CLAT 2020

• Legal Aptitude For The CLAT – Workbook by A.P. Bhardwaj

• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

Major recruiters

The people’s lawyers are generally employed at the high court. But after retirement, public prosecutors can work in

1. Law firms as consultants

2. Run self-practice and train juniors

3. Work in online law solution organizations wherein based on customer request law advice is shared.

4. Train students to study law and guide them for future

5. Write columns in law journals

Along with these recruiters, there are many options to work as consultant public prosecutors who work on selective projects based on their time constraints.

Interesting facts

Ujjwal Nikam is a special public prosecutor who has worked on numerous criminal and terrorism cases. He helped in 1993 bombings in Mumbai case and his arguments are still considered as the best by law students.