The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned for tomorrow the hearing of a plea challenging the notification of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs fixing the tenure of the members of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as three years.
A vacation bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Hima Kohli asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs why only one copy of the minutes of the committee meeting was shared with the judges.
“Only one copy for two judges? We will have it tomorrow, didn’t expect this,” said Justice Kohli.
Mehta apologised to the bench and undertook to file two copies of the minutes.
In May, the bench had asked the Central government to apprise it about the development of the meeting to be held regarding the tenure of 23 members of the NCLT and posted the case for hearing on June 15.
Mehta had told the top court that a committee chaired by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had held a meeting on April 20 in which the question regarding the tenure of 23 members of NCLT has been deliberated upon.
The committee also comprises Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant and the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is seized of the issue and the next meeting is likely to be held within a week or 10 days, SG had further told the bench.
Solicitor General then requested the top court to hear the matter on June 15 and also said that the next retirement of one of the NCLT members is on June 20.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by the NCLT Bar Association challenging the notification of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs fixing the tenure of the members of NCLT as three years. The plea sought direction to modify the tenure to five years.
Solicitor General had told the apex court that the committee had considered all aspects of the matter, including verification reports of character and antecedents, which are considered to be one of the important factors for the assessment of the suitability of the 23 members for extension of their term of office keeping in view the sensitive nature of their duties.
The apex court also noted the submissions of senior advocate Maninder Singh, who appeared for the petitioner and submitted that term of all the members of the 2019 batch would come to an end on July 3, 2022, though the term should legitimately be for a period of five years. (ANI)
