Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister inaugurates NCLAT Chennai Bench

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister inaugurates NCLAT Chennai Bench

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Chennai Bench of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) through virtual mode. The ceremony was held in presence of Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, Acting Chairperson, NCLAT, Rajesh Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, other members of NCLAT and the National Company Law Tribunals, officers of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and Bar members

The NCLAT Chennai NCLAT shall have jurisdiction to hear the Appeals arising out of the orders passed by the benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that has jurisdiction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.

The charge of NCLAT Chennai Bench was taken by two members of the NCLAT, New Delhi, Balvinder Singh, and Justice Venugopal M.

Justice Bansi Lal Bhat welcomed the Finance Minister and also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has provided freedom of exit to insolvent entities. He stated that the Central Government has demonstrated a proactive approach by bringing successive amendments to the Bankruptcy Code.

He further mentioned that the Government is taking all the necessary measures to strengthen the NCLT with regard to the number of Benches and number of Courts at heavily loaded benches. The NCLAT is functioning at a strength of five Courts, four at the Principal Bench in New Delhi, and the fifth at NCLAT, Chennai.

The Finance Minister emphasized the importance of constituting another Bench at Chennai. She further stated that the NCLAT New Delhi Bench shall be known as the Principal Bench that shall hear appeals other than those in the jurisdiction of NCLAT, Chennai Bench.

She stated that having a Bench at Chennai will give a major relief to the companies and litigants in South India, who have faced great difficulty in traveling to Delhi for appeals in the NCLAT. It was further mentioned that it will reduce the pendency of cases and will result in speedy disposal of the cases.

Sitharaman stated that the advent of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, has benefited the economy in several ways. She observed that a large part of the Insolvency Law's evolution can be accredited to the development of jurisprudence which happens under the very able guidance of our judicial and quasi-judicial institutions.

About 5,600 were cases filed in December 2020 before the NCLAT, and approximately 3,800 cases related to Bankruptcy Code have been handled, about 4,200 matters have been disposed of i.e. approx. 75 per cent. She stated that the Government is committed to ensuring continued efforts to ensure speedy and cost-effective delivery of justice and ensure ease of doing business in India.