Applications close on 27 October 2026. AAI’s own notice prints no closing time. One report, citing EdCIL’s copy, gives 5:30 PM — treat that as your deadline and do not leave it to the evening.
The Airports Authority of India is engaging three Senior Consultants (Law) at its Regional Headquarters, Southern Region, in Chennai, at a consolidated ₹1,50,000 a month. The application runs through EdCIL (India) Limited’s portal under Advertisement No. 01/HR/2026/RHQ-SR. You need a law degree and eight to ten years of post-qualification experience in legal work, and you must be within 45 on 27 October 2026.
That much every job portal has. Two things they leave out matter more to a practising lawyer: what the experience band actually means, and what taking this post does to your enrolment. Both are below.
The advertisement at a glance
| Advertisement | No. 01/HR/2026/RHQ-SR — engagement of consultants in Airports Authority of India for one year on contract basis |
| Engaging authority | Airports Authority of India, Regional Headquarters, Southern Region, Chennai. The application is processed through EdCIL (India) Limited |
| Law posts | 3 — Senior Consultant (Law), RHQ/SR, Chennai |
| Total posts | 18, across 13 positions |
| Pay | ₹1,50,000 a month, consolidated and all-inclusive |
| Upper age | 45 years as on 27.10.2026. No relaxation for any category is printed |
| Experience | 08–10 years of post-qualification experience in legal work |
| Applications open | 7 October 2026 |
| Last date | 27 October 2026 — no time printed in AAI’s notice; 5:30 PM per one report |
| Eligibility cut-off | 27 October 2026, for age, qualification and experience |
| Fee | None is mentioned in the notice |
| Reservation | None is printed for any post |
| Selection | Document verification and interview. Minimum 50 marks in the interview; merit ranking. Schedule “will be intimated later” |
| Contract | One year, extended a year at a time, to a maximum of 5 years in AAI |
Read the advertisement
Open the advertisement on aai.aero
Eligibility, as printed
Essential qualification:
“Professional degree in Law (3 years’ regular course after graduation OR 5 years’ integrated regular course after 10+2) and candidate should be eligible to get himself enrolled as an Advocate in Bar Council of India to do practice in courts in India.”
Experience:
“08-10 years of post-qualification experience in legal work”
Three points on these two clauses.
- “Regular” is in both limbs. A law degree by distance or correspondence does not meet the words as printed.
- The clock starts at qualification, not enrolment. Eight years by 27 October 2026 means you qualified on or before 27 October 2018. The notice does not say whether “qualification” runs from your result or your degree, so keep the document that proves the earlier date. “Legal work” is not limited to litigation — in-house, government and advisory work all fall within the words.
- “Eligible to get himself enrolled” — you need not be on the rolls. Hold on to that; it matters in the section on enrolment below.
Is ten years a ceiling?
Read the experience column for all 13 positions together and a pattern appears. Every Associate Consultant needs 0–3 years, every Junior Consultant 3–5, every Consultant 5–8, and the one Senior Consultant post 8–10. These are grading bands that place each post on a ladder, and the notice nowhere uses the word “maximum”. The real gate is the age limit of 45.
So if you have eleven or twelve years and are within 45, the words do not plainly shut you out. Apply, and state your experience exactly as it is. Know, though, that a screening officer could read “08-10” literally, that the notice gives no guidance either way, and that under clause 5.20 the appointing authority’s decision is final.
What the job actually is
The duties, as printed in the notice:
• “Conduct legal research on issues relating to aviation laws, contracts, service matters, land acquisition, arbitration, constitutional and administrative law.”
• “Preparation of Case Briefs, notes, and other documents pertaining to Litigation of AAI.”
• “Liaising and coordinating AAI’s litigation before various courts and tribunals.”
• “Pursuing court cases & attending court hearings before courts and tribunals on behalf of AAI.”
• “Drafting, vetting, and reviewing legal documents including contracts, agreements, MoUs, affidavits, pleadings, written submissions, rejoinders, replies, notices, and correspondence, processing of profession fee bills of Lawyers.”
• “Regular updation and maintenance of litigation and legal data on the AIMS (or any other designated) Portal.”
• “Coordination with various departments, airports, and Corporate & regional offices of AAI for collection of documents, submission of required reports Data, factual inputs, and records required for litigation and legal matters.”
• “Provide assistance in maintaining records of court orders, judgments, legal opinions, contracts, and arbitration awards.”
• “Perform any other legal, research, litigation, or assigned duties as may be assigned by RED/APD and GM (Law), CHQ from time to time.”
Read as a whole, this is litigation management for a regional office: briefing and instructing panel counsel, tracking matters, drafting and vetting, gathering records from airports, and processing the fee bills of the lawyers AAI engages. “Attending court hearings” is in the list, but arguing is not the centre of the job. Expect land acquisition, service matters, contract and arbitration work, and aviation regulation. The reporting line runs to the Regional Executive Director or Airport Director and to the General Manager (Law) at Corporate Headquarters.
Before you apply: your enrolment
This is the question no report on this advertisement raises, and for an advocate eight to ten years into practice it is the one that decides whether to apply.
Rule 49 of the Bar Council of India Rules says an advocate shall not be a full-time salaried employee of any person, government, firm, corporation or concern so long as he continues to practise. On taking up such employment, he must intimate his Bar Council and cease to practise for as long as the employment lasts.
The AAI contract calls you an “independent consultant” and says nothing in it establishes a relationship of employer and employee (clause 5.6). It pays a consolidated fee with tax deducted at source (clause 5.3). Set against that:
- the engagement is “on full time basis”, and you “would not be permitted to take up any other assignment” (clause 5.1);
- you mark biometric or manual attendance daily, and absence beyond three working days without intimation allows termination (clause 5.5);
- the contract runs year to year, for up to five years.
On facts very close to these, the Gujarat High Court held that a “legal expert consultant” to a State corporation was a full-time salaried employee within Rule 49. She was on a year-to-year contract, at a fixed monthly payment, working office hours, with tax deducted as professional fees, and the Court upheld the Bar Council’s refusal to enrol her (Bar Council of Gujarat v. Jalpa Desai, Letters Patent Appeal No. 1296 of 2016). The Court looked at the terms and the work, not the label, and held that the method of tax deduction does not decide the nature of the engagement.
Rule 49 does exempt a Law Officer of a statutory body. But the Rule defines a Law Officer as someone designated as one by the terms of appointment and required by those terms to act or plead in court for the employer. In Deepak Aggarwal v. Keshav Kaushik, (2013) 5 SCC 277, the Supreme Court drew the line at exactly that: an engagement to appear and plead, as against one for other legal work. This notice designates no one a Law Officer. Its duties are mostly briefing, coordination, drafting and records.
Not every High Court has gone as far as Gujarat, and the point is not settled. But the practical course is clear enough:
- If you are in practice, assume you will have to intimate your State Bar Council and stop practising for the term of the engagement. Ask your Bar Council before you sign the contract that clause 5.18 requires.
- Your files cannot be carried alongside this post. Clause 5.1 bars any other assignment, Rule 49 aside.
- Years spent here may not count as years at the Bar wherever that matters to you later.
The eligibility clause asks only that you be eligible to enrol, so being off the rolls is no bar to applying. None of this is a reason to stay away. It is a reason to decide with your eyes open.
The money, and what it leaves out
₹1,50,000 a month — ₹18 lakh a year — is a “Consolidated fixed monthly remuneration (all inclusive)”. Clause 5.4 is blunt about what that means:
“No increment or any other allowance shall be allowed during the term of contract. Consultant shall not be entitled for any allowances such as Dearness Allowances (DA), Residential Telephone, Transport Facility, Personal Staff, Residential Accommodation, Medical Reimbursement, etc.”
Travel on official work within India attracts TA/DA with approval. Beyond that the notice provides no HRA, medical cover, pension or gratuity, and clause 5.13 makes insurance your own responsibility. Because you are not an employee, the fee is professional income, not salary: tax is deducted at source, and clause 5.3 says GST, where applicable, is payable on top.
Pay can be revised after each year, on performance:
| Assessment | Enhancement | Monthly fee after review |
|---|---|---|
| Routine or assigned work (good or satisfactory) | Nil | ₹1,50,000 |
| Significant contribution in the domain | Up to 10% | Up to ₹1,65,000 |
| Exemplary performance, in exceptional cases | Up to 15% | Up to ₹1,72,500 |
A satisfactory year earns nothing extra. Treat ₹1.5 lakh as the figure, not the floor of a scale.
The other terms worth reading
| Clause | What it says |
|---|---|
| 5.1 — Period | One year, “extended for another one year at a time”. Total in AAI not to exceed 5 years. Full time; no other assignment |
| 5.5 — Leave | 1.5 days per completed month — 18 days a year. Unused leave lapses each calendar year and cannot be encashed. Other absence is deducted pro rata |
| 5.6 — Status | “Independent consultant”; not a staff member or official of AAI |
| 5.7 — Conduct | As printed: “The Consultant shall either seek or accept instructions from any authority external to AAI.” It plainly means neither … nor |
| 5.14 — Health | AAI may ask for a statement of good health from a recognised physician. It is not liable for compensation for injury, illness or death arising from the work |
| 5.16 — Criminal cases | No criminal case may be pending against you; you self-certify this |
| 5.17 — Termination | One month’s notice, or fee in lieu, from either side. AAI may also terminate for false information, unsatisfactory work, missed milestones, or lack of integrity |
| 5.20 — Disputes | The appointing authority’s decision is “final and binding” |
What the portals get wrong
| As reported | As printed in the notice |
|---|---|
| Age limit “30 to 45” or “Min: 30 years” | There is no minimum age. 30 is the upper limit for the Associate Consultant posts. For the law post, the only age limit is 45 as an upper limit |
| Experience “8–10 years’ legal experience”, or not stated at all | “08-10 years of post-qualification experience in legal work”. Two widely read portals omit the experience requirement entirely |
| Qualification: “Professional degree in Law”, full stop | Also requires that you be eligible to enrol as an Advocate with the Bar Council. At least two portals drop this |
| Application fee “Rs 0” / “Nil for all categories” | The notice is silent on fee. That is not the same as a stated nil fee; check the portal at the payment stage |
| “Medical test” as a selection stage | Selection is document verification and interview. AAI may ask for a good-health statement before the contract begins |
| “Contract period: 1 year” | One year, extendable a year at a time, up to five |
Do not confuse this with Advertisement No. 11/2026/CHQ/CN. That earlier notice was for five Senior Consultant (Law) posts at New Delhi, on the same pay and age limit, and it closed on 6 August 2026. Several pages still circulating under “AAI Senior Consultant Law 2026” are about that one. The open advertisement is 01/HR/2026/RHQ-SR, for Chennai.
The other fifteen posts
The same advertisement covers twelve non-legal positions. If you know someone suited to one, pass it on.
| Position and place | Posts | Upper age | Experience | Monthly fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Consultant (Clinical Psychologist), RHQ/SR, Chennai | 1 | 35 | 3–5 yrs | ₹1,00,000 |
| Junior Consultant (Airport Systems), RHQ/SR, Chennai | 1 | 35 | 3–5 yrs | ₹1,00,000 |
| Consultant (Bird & Wildlife Management), Chennai Airport | 1 | 40 | 5–8 yrs | ₹1,20,000 |
| Associate Consultant (Bird & Wildlife Management), Chennai Airport | 1 | 30 | 0–3 yrs | ₹70,000 |
| Junior Consultant (Obstacle Management & Aerodrome Safeguarding), Chennai Airport | 1 | 35 | 3–5 yrs | ₹1,00,000 |
| Associate Consultant (Obstacle Management & Aerodrome Safeguarding), Chennai Airport | 1 | 30 | 0–3 yrs | ₹70,000 |
| Consultant (Horticulture), RHQ-SR | 2 | 40 | 5–8 yrs | ₹1,20,000 |
| Consultant (Content Writer), RHQ/SR, Chennai | 1 | 40 | 5–8 yrs | ₹1,20,000 |
| Consultant (Graphic Designer), RHQ/SR, Chennai | 1 | 40 | 5–8 yrs | ₹1,20,000 |
| Consultant (Video Editor), RHQ/SR, Chennai | 1 | 40 | 5–8 yrs | ₹1,20,000 |
| Junior Consultant (Technical) — place not stated | 2 | 35 | 3–5 yrs | ₹1,00,000 |
| Associate Consultant (Technical) — place not stated | 2 | 30 | 0–3 yrs | ₹70,000 |
Applying
- Apply online through the portal linked from AAI’s recruitment page: Apply online (EdCIL / TCS iON portal). The notice is also on AAI’s release page.
- Upload a photograph (100–200 KB, JPEG) and your signature in black ink on white paper (80–150 KB, JPEG).
- Upload your 10th, 12th and degree certificates and your experience certificate, each 100 KB to 1 MB in JPEG or PDF. The experience certificate carries the weight of the application, so make sure it shows your start date and the nature of the legal work.
- Submit by 27 October 2026, and well before 5:30 PM.
- Keep originals ready for document verification. The interview date “will be intimated later”, and you need at least 50 marks in it.
Worth applying?
- In-house or PSU lawyers with eight to ten years are the natural fit. The work is what you already do, and the enrolment question costs you nothing if you are not practising now.
- Practising advocates should weigh the Rule 49 point before anything else. ₹18 lakh a year, consolidated and without benefits, in exchange for suspending practice, on a contract terminable at a month’s notice — for some that is a good trade. Make it deliberately.
- Over ten years and within 45: the band is not stated as a ceiling. Apply and state your experience accurately.
- Under eight years on 27 October 2026: you are not eligible, and there is no Consultant or Junior Consultant law post in this advertisement to fall back on.
Disclaimer: This post is prepared by Lawizard.in for information. It is not legal or career advice, and it is not an official communication of the Airports Authority of India or EdCIL (India) Limited. The quotations are taken from Advertisement No. 01/HR/2026/RHQ-SR as published on aai.aero; EdCIL’s own copy of the notice could not be accessed, and the 5:30 PM closing time is taken from a secondary report and is unverified. The discussion of Rule 49 is general; whether it applies to you is for your State Bar Council, and you should take advice before giving up practice. The advertisement alone is authoritative.
Sources: Airports Authority of India, Advertisement No. 01/HR/2026/RHQ-SR (Annexure-I), on aai.aero; AAI recruitment release of 7 October 2026 (aai.aero/en/recruitment/release/751189); Bar Council of India Rules, Part VI, Chapter II, Rule 49; Deepak Aggarwal v. Keshav Kaushik, (2013) 5 SCC 277; Bar Council of Gujarat v. Jalpa Desai, Gujarat High Court, LPA No. 1296 of 2016; indgovtjobs.in (closing time only).
