NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL BAR ASSOCIATION vs UNION OF INDIA
SUPREME COURT MONTHLY
AUGUST 2022
2022(8) SCM 4
NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL BAR ASSOCIATION vs UNION OF INDIA
D/d: 01.08.2022
HEADNOTE:
Companies Act 2013 - Term of members of National Company Law Tribunal - Section 413- Appointment of persons as members of the NCLT for a period of three years is not contemplated by the provisions of Section 413(1). An administrative notification for appointment has to be consistent with the statute which governs appointments to the Tribunal. (Para 17)
Companies Act 2013 - Centre directed to ensure that the term of NCLT members appointed in future is 5 years as per Section 413 - We however direct that in making appointments to the NCLT in the future, the Union Government shall be bound by the statutory provisions embodied in Section 413 of the Companies Act 2013. (Para 27, 28)
Tribunal appointments - Court refuses to entertain the challenge made by the NCLT Bar Association against the Centre's 2019 notification fixing the term of members as 3 years, as the members themselves have not challenged the same-The issue in regard to the term of appointment being less than the term prescribed statutorily has only been raised towards the tail end of the tenure and by the Bar Association and not the Members themselves. Entertaining the submissions of the petitioner would incidentally lead the Court into an evaluation of the suitability, character and performance of individual Members in a petition to which they are not parties. Such an exercise would, in the circumstances, be wholly inappropriate - The Bar Association cannot have a choice in regard to who should be a Member of the Tribunal. (Para 22, 26)
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