NCLT president withdraws cases from Chandigarh Bench Court

New Delhi: Following a heated exchange between a judicial and a technical member of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Chandigarh, the president of the Tribunal has withdrawn all cases from that bench and transferred it to another bench, Bar and Bench reported.

The development was notified by the Registrar of the Tribunal through an order passed on February 3.

It states that proceedings of all pending cases of the bench stand transferred to the other bench of the Tribunal. However, the bench has been asked to pronounce orders in reserved matters at the earliest.

The viral video recorded during a hearing in January showed a three-minute confrontation between Member (Judicial) Dr Patibandla Satyanarayana Prasad and Member (Technical) Umesh Kumar Shukla.

“I have tolerated you so much,” Prasad, a former legal adviser to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), was seen sternly telling Shukla that he is the controller of the court and advises him to mend his behavior.

Sources revealed to Bar and Bench that this clash was not an isolated incident and that the technical member has had disagreements with the judicial member in open court on previous occasions as well.

Further insights from the legal fraternity shed light on the underlying dynamics. Shukla, having a non-judicial background, faced challenges adapting to the judicial bench.

A senior lawyer from Chandigarh emphasized the need for a different approach while on the bench, urging caution and subtlety in questioning.

Additionally, practical problems within the NCLT’s Chandigarh Bench were highlighted with only one functional courtroom despite having two courts. Court-1 sits in the morning and court-2 commences only at 2 pm leading to time constraints and a desire for swift case proceedings.