A petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court seeking that a Bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) be set up in Mumbai.
A Division Bench of Justices A.A. Sayed and Madhav Jamdar was hearing a plea filed by advocate Nicky Pokar seeking a NCLAT Bench in Mumbai pursuant to a Supreme Court ruling that had directed the Central government through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to establish circuit Benches of NCLAT outside Delhi within six months.
The plea also said, “NCLAT’s operating procedure mandates filing of physical/hard copies of appeal interim applications causing difficulty for advocates and petitioners outside Delhi given the current pandemic situation. The poor financial health of a large section of the public, coupled with travel and other restrictions, aggravates the difficulties. Seeking speedy and cost-effective justice is the casualty in corollary.”
The petition urged the court to direct NCLAT and the Centre, “to activate/enable the e-filing tab of NCLAT and make such rules, including payment of filing fees and printing charges, to the effect that physical filing is dispensed with” and to continue NCLAT proceedings virtually.
The HC adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
