01 May 2010
Hello, I wanted to ask whehter the COMPANY LAW BOARD is now NCLT- NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL? What reference should I make in my upcoming June 2010 exams?
02 May 2010
Business decisions require speedy determination and the long drawn legal battles in the Court of Law stifle business impetus. The Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2002, has brought a relief to Companies, litigants and the Courts by creating two specialised bodies to bring about speedy disposal of the colossal cases pending before the High Court and the Companies Law Board. These specialised bodies called the National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT] and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal [NCLAT] has provided a glimmer of hope in Companylitigation. The setting up of these bodies was first envisaged in the Balakrishna Eradi Report which dealt with examining the existing laws relating to winding up of Companies, revival of sick companies along with laws relating to recovery of debts, insolvency of companies and to suggest recuperative measures for the ailing corporate sector on these issues. So far the disputes in Company matters had been divided between the High Court [HC] and the Company Law Board [CLB]. Disputes relating to reduction of capital, merger, and amalgamation and winding up were with the HC and the power of rectification of register,complaints regarding refusal to transfer/ transmit securities, rectification of register of Members, oppression and mismanagement was handled by the CLB. This paper is an endeavour to analyse the Constitution, Working, Powers and Procedure of the National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT] and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal [NCLAT] and also analysis the changes brought about in the Companies Act to revive Sick Industries.
The CLB constituted under Section 10E of the Companies Act, 1956[hereinafter referred to as Act] has been dissolved by the introduction of Section 10 FA and the NCLT has been constituted under Section 10FB of the Act. All matters pending before the CLB on or before dissolution have now been transferred to the NLCT [S 10FA (3)]. In case of orders passed by the CLB before dissolution, appeal can be filed before the HC as per Section 10F. Orders passed by the CLB prior to dissolution can be enforced through Court as per provisions of Section 635(4), even after dissolution.