Seniormost Additional Law Secretary Rita Vashishth is seen as leading the race for bagging the post of Law Secretary. This follows a policy relaxation that has allowed senior ministry functionaries to also apply for the post. Earlier, the Law Ministry wanted to draft an outsider for the job. For this purpose, advertisements were floated. As many as 45 applications were received including those from serving sessions judges. No one from the Law Ministry applied, as none could fulfil the criteria. As most of the outside applicants were not found suitable for the job, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had a sudden change of heart and allowed senior ministry functionaries to also apply for the pos