NCLT Hyderabad Benches Re-Constituted W.E.F 20th October, 2022; Matters Are To Be Heard Through Video Conferencing

The National Company Law Tribunal, NCLT, Hyderabad Bench, has been re-constituted vide a Circular dated 11.10.2022 and from 20.10.2022 onwards, the changes are applicable till further orders. The NCLT new Hyderabad Benches shall comprise of:
First Half: NCLT Hyderabad, Court Room No. 1
Judicial Member, Dr. Venkata Ramakrishna Badarinath Nandula
Technical Member, Shri Ajai Das Mehrotra
Second Half: NCLT Hyderabad, Court Room No. 2
Judicial Member, Dr. Venkata Ramakrishna Badarinath Nandula
Technical Member, Shri Satya Ranjan Prasad
Thus, the Circular has been issued in partial modification of Order of even number dated 24.08.2022 and is applicable from 20.10.2022 till further orders. Further, the reconstituted Bench shall take up matters through Video Conferencing.
Background
The recent re-constitution has been done in view of the retirement of fifteen NCLT Members on 03.07.2022. Thus, 23 NCLT Members has been appointed by Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide a notification dated 20.09.2019 (“Notification”) for a term of 3 years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. It is been prescribed under Section 413 of the Companies Act, 2013, the term of the Members as 5 years.
It had been observed that the Central Government had granted extension of tenure to eight out of the twenty-three Members appointed through the Notification, while the remaining Members retired on 03.07.2022. At present, the total strength of NCLT Members was forty-five, which came down to thirty on 03.07.2022 and thus created a shortage of Members.
A writ petition has been filled by National Company Law Tribunal Bar Association (“NCLTBA”), the case titled as National Company Law Tribunal Bar Association v Union of India before the Supreme Court in May 2022, wherein seeking modification of the term of 3 years fixed by the MCA Notification as 5 years. On 20.06.2022., in a hearing held, the Supreme Court opined that the appointees had accepted the three years period of appointment in 2019 without any demur and had till date did not raise any challenges against the same. It had been declined by the Supreme Court to grant any interim relief and in a subsequent hearing held on 01.08.2022 and the plea of the NCLTBA for extension of tenure of the NCLT Members has been turned down by the Supreme Court, while observing that NCLTBA should be interested in filling up of vacancies of Members rather than their tenure.
Further, Several NCLT Benches have been re-constituted, Special Benches have been constituted and hearings are being conducted through video conferencing to meet the shortage of Members. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has released notification for appointment of new Members to NCLT.

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