NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (NCLAT)

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is a bench which was constituted by the Central Government of India under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 and was constituted on June 1, 2016 by the Government of India.

The tribunal is responsible for hearing appeals:

· against the decrees of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

· against the decrees passed by NCLT(s) under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), with effect from December 1, 2016.

· against the orders issued by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC.

It is the Appellate Tribunal to hear and clear appeals against any direction issued or ruling made or decree passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The appeal can be placed within 45 days from the date on which NCLT announces its decisions. The Appellate Tribunal Court goes through the facts transferred from the Tribunal, making changes or confirming the order given by the latter. This process happens within a time span of six months.

COMPOSITION:

The NCLAT includes The President of the Tribunal and the chairperson and Judicial Members of the Appellate Tribuna who shall be nominated after consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

The Members of the Tribunal and the Technical Members of the Appellate Tribunal shall be appointed on the proposal of a Selection committee and shall consists of total of not more than eleven members.

As of December 2019, Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya, former Superme Court Justice, is the current chairperson of NCLAT.

The other members of the tribunal include,

· Balvindar Singh (Technical),

· Justice AJS Cheema (Judicial),

· Justice Bansi Lal Bhat (Judicial),

· Kanthi Narahari (Technical),

· Justice Venugopal M (Judicial),

· Vijai Pratap Singh (Technical),

· Dr Ashok Kumar Mishra (Technical).

ARE NCLAT DECISIONS BINDING?

NCLAT decisions can be challenged in the Supreme Court on a point of law." NCLAT passed several judgements in 2019 but many of them failed Supreme Court perusal", by Economic Times.

In some cases, NCALT decisions have been inverted by the Supreme Court, like in the case of Arcelor Mittal when the Supreme Court set aside the tribunal's order to pave way for the global steel giant to acquire Essar Steel.

Though the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) passed several orders/ judgments in the insolvency and corporate matters in 2019 which include Tata-Mistry feud, Essar Steel, Jet Airways, IL&FS, Jaypee Infratech, and Reliance Communications, several of them ceased to execute the scrutiny of the Supreme Court and were either set aside kr modified.

CONCLUSION:

The merit of establishing NCLAT include exclusive jurisdiction, a decrease in the multiplicity of the suit before courts and the time efficiency with the cases are heard and passed.