NCLAT Chennai Criticizes Practising Company Secretary For Overburdening Tribunal With Voluminous Appeal Records And Insignificant Citations

NCLAT Chennai Criticizes Practising Company Secretary For Overburdening Tribunal With Voluminous Appeal Records And Insignificant Citations

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai Bench, consisting of Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma (Member Judicial) and Jatindranath Swain (Member Technical), criticized a practicing company secretary for filing an appeal with voluminous records spanning several volumes.

The appeal was filed against an order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai Bench. The NCLT had directed that all company petitions related to a particular company be presented to the chairperson of the NCLT for the nomination of an appropriate bench, ensuring that all cases concerning the company would be decided together to prevent contradictory judgments.

The NCLAT noted that the NCLT's order was merely a procedural directive with no adjudication on the merits of the case or any impact on the rights of the parties involved. The Appellate Tribunal condemned the professionals for filing the appeal against such an order.

“On this simple count and arguments alone, the learned counsel for the appellant has burdened the litigant with the preparation of 7 volumes of documents running to 1312 pages, for no good purpose or valid reason. It is against basic professional ethics. The conduct of the professionals herein is deprecated for the said mode of institution of the proceedings, particularly when the lis engages consideration of an impugned order of a nature that is not deciding or affecting any of the rights of the appellant.”

Based on these observations, the NCLAT dismissed the appeal.