September 22: The Supreme Court has ordered the government and the Insurance Board to submit clarification for issuing micro insurance licenses.

Responding to a petition filed by advocate Deepak Baral accusing the government of issuing such license illegally, a single bench of justice Tanka Bahadur Moktan on Wednesday ordered the Ministry of Finance, Parliament Secretariat, Ministry of Law and Insurance Board to appear before the court with written statements within 15 days.

Baral had filed a petition claiming that the Insurance Board was distributing micro-insurance licenses illegally. The court has called both parties next Sunday to discuss whether or not to stop issue such license.

A writ petition was registered at the Supreme Court on September 18 demanding the court to revoke the licensing process, stating that the Insurance Board Act does not have provisions for granting licenses to small insurance companies. On August 26, the board had opened an applications to issue micro insurance license. The board had given a deadline of 35 days to submit the application. The 35-day deadline ends on September 29.