Rajeev Kher

Former Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief Anita Kapur was today appointed as member of Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT), reported the PTI.

Former commerce secretary and legal sector liberalisation architect Rajeev Kher assumed office as member at the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) yesterday, according to its website, filling one of the two empty member posts which were last occupied at the tribunal in May 2014 and August 2014.

Commerce ministry Rajeev Kher held a press conference yesterday, saying that the government had begun talks about opening up the transactional legal services sector and India-based international arbitration, having drawn in law firm lobby group Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf) and the regulator Bar Council of India (BCI).

Commerce secretary Rajeev Kher told Mint that a committee of secretaries may “meet as early as this month to clear the proposal on legal services, which will be subsequently placed before the cabinet for a final decision”.