Synopsis: The plea seeks the establishment of a NCLAT bench at various locations, including Mumbai, with regard to the decision of the Supreme Court in the Swiss Ribbons case and the e-filing provisions.
A petition was filed before the Bombay High Court seeking the establishment of a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) bench at various locations, including Mumbai.
The petition filed by the lawyer Nicky Pokar, was based on the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Swiss Ribbons (P) Ltd. V. Union of India, in which the Court noted the submission of Attorney General KK Venugopal, who assured the Court that it would follow the instructions contained in another judgement of the Madras Bar Association and that the NCLAT Circuit Benches will be established.
In the case of Swiss Ribbons, the Supreme Court stated that the learned Attorney General informed the court that this decision would be followed and that Circuit Benches would be formed as soon as possible. In this view of the matter, the Court record this submission and directed the Union of India, within a span of six months, to set up NCLAT circuit benches.
Pokar has also sought to activate the NCLAT e-filing tab, including provisions for e-filing fee payments and physical filing allowances.
The plea states that the date of e-filing in NCLAT has not yet been facilitated, despite the e-filing training course in November 2020.
It is the case of Pokar that the mandatory requirement to file hard copies led advocates outside Delhi to have difficulty.
The plea states that difficulties are aggravated given the current pandemic situation, axiomatic to state given the poor financial health of a large section of the public coupled with travel and other restrictions, the loss in corollary is seeking speedy and cost-effective justice.
Consequently, Pokar sought the intervention of the Court on the ground that litigants and advocates were at a distinct disadvantage in view of the present situation.
A petition was recently filed before the Supreme Court seeking directions to make NCLAT’s Chennai Bench functional as the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
However, a similar petition is pending before the Madras High Court.