National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

Why in news?

• The Supreme court has commenced the final hearing on the dispute between Tata Sons and Shapoorji Pallonji Groups’ Cyrus Mistry.
• Tata Sons and Mistry have challenged a December 18, 2019 order of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal which had ordered the reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as the Chairperson of Tata Sons Limited.

About NCLT

• The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies.
• The NCLT was established under the Companies Act 2013.
• It was constituted on 1 June 2016 based on the recommendation of the justice Eradi committee on law relating to insolvency and winding up of companies.

About NCLAT:

• Decisions of the NCLT may be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
• The tribunal is responsible for hearing appeals from the orders of National Company Law Tribunal(s) (NCLT), starting on 1 June 2016.
• The tribunal also hears appeals from orders issued by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC. It also hears appeals from any direction issued, decision made, or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• The decisions of NCLAT may be appealed to the Supreme Court of India.

Under which ministry?

• NCLT comes under Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Add on: Role of NCLT under Insolvency and Bankruptcy code

• The National Company Law Tribunal is the Adjudicating Authority for Insolvency resolution process of Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
• A plea for insolvency is submitted to the NCLT (in case of corporate debtors) by financial or operation creditors or the corporate debtor itself.
• If the plea is accepted, the tribunal has to appoint an Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) to draft a resolution plan within 180 days (extendable by 90 days).
• Following which the Corporate Insolvency Resolution process is initiated by the court.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements:
1.Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) norms in India are applicable to both public and private sector companies.
2.CSR norms have been given statutory status via Companies Act 2013.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question