The bankers for the Rs.12, 000 crore ($2.1 billion) disinvestment of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) have been known to refuse the small pittance of fees that they are entitled to. The bankers are reported to have said that the cost of preparing the paperwork for the bill of Rs.16, 550 ($358) will be higher than the fees itself. The lawyers however have raised a bill of nearly Rs. 1 Crore ($216,000).

DNA reports that another petition against the first Bar Exam has been filed by Murali Prasad, a student of Sarvodaya Law College who states that the Bar Exam which will be held in December of this year will deprive him of his livelihood for five months and is violative of Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution which provides citizens the right to practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.    

Also in the news is the never-ending saga of the transfer of controversial judge, Justice Dinakaran. It has been reported that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is unhappy with the frequent transfers of various High Court Chief Justices and is also peeved with the decision of the SC collegium to transfer Justice Dinakaran to the High Courts of Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. The PM’s office has reportedly asked the SC collegium to reconsider these transfers and has sent the proposed file back to it.

The Centre has formulated a National Litigation Policy (NLP), which will help both it and the states to shed the shameful tag of being the biggest contributor to 3 crores of pending cases in the country. The new policy which was drafted by Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati and vetted by Law Minister, Veerappa Moily also seeks to conduct litigation in a time bound manner and provide efficient lawyers to the government departments by selecting them through a strict scrutiny.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily wants to fast-track the legal system with a novel idea of mobile courts on trains and has roped in Railways minister Mamata Banerjee for the same. “The idea is to take justice to remote areas — in consonance of the UPA government’s commitment to provide for inclusive justice,” Moily told Hindustan Times. Moily also added, “Matters of protocol and procedure are presently being worked out by Justice Mohit Shantilal Shah, Chief Justice of the Kolkata High Court and Pinaki Ghosh, former chairman of the legal service authority.”

Menaka Guruswamy writes an opinion piece in The Hindu regarding the need for Nepal's political elites to recognise the historical terms of reference of the Constituent Assembly and the need to set aside their personal quest for power, and focus on coming to a shared understanding of the idea of their country.