Justice Ashok Bhushan is set to demit office of the Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal..Justice Bhushan had joined as Chairperson of NCLAT on November 8, 2021, for a period of 4 years, presiding over significant matters involving corporate law, insolvency, and competition statutes.He was later re-appointed as the Chairperson of NCLAT in 2025, and was to continue till he attains the age of 70 years on July 4, 2026..Born on July 5, 1956 in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur, Justice Bhushan graduated in Arts in 1975 and earned his law degree with First Division from Allahabad University in 1979..He enrolled with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh on April 6, 1979, and began practising on the civil and original side before the Allahabad High Court. He served as standing counsel for Allahabad University, State Mineral Development Corporation Limited and several municipal bodies, banks and educational institutions..He was later elected Senior Vice-President of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association.Justice Bhushan was elevated as permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on April 24, 2001.He was sworn in as Judge of the Kerala High Court on July 10, 2014, became Acting Chief Justice on August 1, 2014, and was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court on March 26, 2015.On May 13, 2016, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India. In July 2020, he was appointed as Chairman, Ravi Beas River Tribunal.He retired from the Supreme Court on July 4, 2021..Justice Ashok Bhushan-led Benches of the NCLAT have delivered important rulings on the scope of competition law in digital markets. In the Google Android matter, NCLAT held that tying Google’s proprietary apps with the Play Store and imposing restrictive obligations on original equipment manufacturers could amount to abuse of dominance under the Competition Act. In the Google Play Store billing case, NCLAT held that Google’s use of its dominant position in the app store ecosystem to protect and promote its own payment system could violate Section 4 of the Competition Act. It also held that penalty must be based on relevant turnover and not total turnover.In the WhatsApp-Meta matter, NCLAT upheld the CCI’s finding that WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy raised competition concerns, while interfering with certain directions on data sharing.His Benches have also laid down key principles under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. In Union Bank of India v Dinkar T Venkatasubramanian, a five-member Bench held that NCLAT has no power to review its judgments, though it may recall an order in limited cases of procedural error or sufficient cause. In Go First’s insolvency, NCLAT upheld the maintainability of a voluntary insolvency plea under Section 10 of the IBC despite objections by aircraft lessors. In Puneet Kaur v K V Developers, NCLAT held that homebuyer claims reflected in the corporate debtor’s records cannot be ignored merely because the buyers failed to file claims within time, and such liabilities must be considered in the Information Memorandum and dealt with before final approval of the resolution plan.
