Law Minister Sadananda Gowda today hinted that a decision on entry of foreign law firms will hinge on the eventual decision of the Supreme Court..In a press meet held at Shastri Bhavan, Gowda also gave details about budgetary allocations for judiciary and the status of Memorandum of Procedure which is being amended pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions..Gowda said that the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Law and Justice is 5,100 crore this year, a considerably increase when compared to the previous years. He said that Rs. 625 crore has been allocated for development of infrastructure for judiciary while 286 crore has been allocated for phase II of the E-Courts project..When quizzed on whether any steps will be taken to facilitate the entry of foreign law firms, Gowda said that the government has already had two rounds of discussion with the Bar Council of India..“We had two rounds of discussion with BCI; the BCI had discussions with foreign firms. Ultimately the Supreme Court decision has to come. The Supreme Court is already hearing appeals from Madras and Bombay.”.Gowda also faced a number of questions pertaining to judicial appointments and the MoP prepared by the Centre..Gowda said that a draft of the MoP has been sent to all the States for their inputs and the Centre is waiting for their response. Around 10 States have provided a response thus far..Interestingly, Gowda also spoke about the unnecessary litigation pursued by the Central government..“Government is the biggest litigant. We want to be a responsible litigant; Every dispute should not go to court. So we are working on a National Litigation Policy”, he said..Another important disclosure made by the Law Minister was that the announcement of the new Chairperson of Law Commission would be made this week..Gowda also spoke at length about deleting obsolete laws. He said that the government has identified around 1,700 obsolete laws and has two Bill have already been enacted to repeal 125 such laws. Further, two other Bills which have been passed by Lok Sabha seeks to repeal 1,053 obsolete Acts, he said.
Law Minister Sadananda Gowda today hinted that a decision on entry of foreign law firms will hinge on the eventual decision of the Supreme Court..In a press meet held at Shastri Bhavan, Gowda also gave details about budgetary allocations for judiciary and the status of Memorandum of Procedure which is being amended pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions..Gowda said that the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Law and Justice is 5,100 crore this year, a considerably increase when compared to the previous years. He said that Rs. 625 crore has been allocated for development of infrastructure for judiciary while 286 crore has been allocated for phase II of the E-Courts project..When quizzed on whether any steps will be taken to facilitate the entry of foreign law firms, Gowda said that the government has already had two rounds of discussion with the Bar Council of India..“We had two rounds of discussion with BCI; the BCI had discussions with foreign firms. Ultimately the Supreme Court decision has to come. The Supreme Court is already hearing appeals from Madras and Bombay.”.Gowda also faced a number of questions pertaining to judicial appointments and the MoP prepared by the Centre..Gowda said that a draft of the MoP has been sent to all the States for their inputs and the Centre is waiting for their response. Around 10 States have provided a response thus far..Interestingly, Gowda also spoke about the unnecessary litigation pursued by the Central government..“Government is the biggest litigant. We want to be a responsible litigant; Every dispute should not go to court. So we are working on a National Litigation Policy”, he said..Another important disclosure made by the Law Minister was that the announcement of the new Chairperson of Law Commission would be made this week..Gowda also spoke at length about deleting obsolete laws. He said that the government has identified around 1,700 obsolete laws and has two Bill have already been enacted to repeal 125 such laws. Further, two other Bills which have been passed by Lok Sabha seeks to repeal 1,053 obsolete Acts, he said.
