Raghav Ohri (@raghavohri0) tweeted: "ET Investigation: Attorney General flouts service Rule, says it's "directory". NO, it's mandatory, holds ex-SC Judge"

Did the top law officer of India violate a service rule?

The rule requires all government law officers to advise ministries or public entities only after a request for such counsel has been routed through the law ministry.

Rohatgi, responding to a detailed questionnaire from ET, said the rule in question is “directory, not mandatory,” that the volume of inquiries to law officers made the rule “unworkable” and therefore no violation had taken place.

However, retired justice Nitte Santosh Hegde, who served in the Supreme Court and was solicitor general and Lokayukta for Karnataka, disagreed with this interpretation, describing the rule as “mandatory.”

Keep reading at The Economic Times (17 more paragraphs) | Desktop version

In 2015, a writ petition had pleaded that Rohatgi to be prevented from appearing for private parties.

But, as @mohitsingh8 points out:

despite service rules, it's a very common practice. Wonder how ET noticed it only now.