In an Indian court, PP stands for Public Prosecutor, the lawyer appointed by the Government to conduct criminal prosecutions on behalf of the State. The other titles heard in court have equally specific meanings. An advocate is a person enrolled on a State Bar Council’s roll under the Advocates Act, 1961, and only advocates are entitled to practise law in Indian courts. “Lawyer” is the everyday word for anyone trained in law, enrolled or not. A barrister is a person called to the Bar in England and Wales or another such jurisdiction, who can practise in India only after enrolling as an advocate. This guide explains each of these terms, and APP, Special Public Prosecutor, Senior Advocate, Advocate General, Attorney General and Solicitor General, using the text of the Advocates Act, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Constitution, with a summary in Hindi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a glance<\/p>\n
Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When a judge or court staff call out “PP”, they mean the Public Prosecutor. Since 1 July 2024 the definition is in Section 2(1)(v) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS): “Public Prosecutor” means “any person appointed under section 18, and includes any person acting under the directions of a Public Prosecutor”. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 had the same definition in Section 2(u), with the appointment provision in Section 24. In Hindi the post is called \u0932\u094b\u0915 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u092f\u094b\u091c\u0915 (lok abhiyojak).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 18 of the BNSS provides for appointments at two levels. For every High Court, the Central Government or the State Government, after consultation with the High Court, appoints a Public Prosecutor and may appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors “for conducting in such Court, any prosecution, appeal or other proceeding on behalf of the Central Government or the State Government”. For every district, the State Government appoints a Public Prosecutor and may appoint Additional Public Prosecutors, from a panel prepared by the District Magistrate in consultation with the Sessions Judge; where a State has a regular cadre of prosecuting officers, appointments are made from that cadre, with a return to the panel only if no suitable person is available in the cadre. Under Section 18(7), a person is eligible to be a Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor “only if he has been in practice as an advocate for not less than seven years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a particular case or class of cases, the Government may appoint a Special Public Prosecutor, who must have been in practice as an advocate for not less than ten years (Section 18(8)). The proviso to that sub-section adds that “the Court may permit the victim to engage an advocate of his choice to assist the prosecution under this sub-section.” Section 20 allows each State to establish a Directorate of Prosecution, headed by a Director of Prosecution “who shall function under the administrative control of the Home Department in the State”; a Director or Deputy Director of Prosecution must have been in practice as an advocate for not less than fifteen years or be or have been a Sessions Judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPP full form in court: Public Prosecutor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n