NCLT will have 5 acting Presidents in 11 days if reappointment process not completed

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) could see its Presidentship change hands five times within a span of 11 days if the Central government does not complete reappointment of current members slated to retire. .The Supreme Court had on Monday refrained from passing any positive directions to extend the tenure of NCLT members. The Court , however, expressed hope that the Central government would complete the reappointment process expeditiously.Since, there were no directions to extend the tenure of Acting Chairperson Bethala Shanta Vijaya Prakash Kumar, he demitted office on May 31 itself, the day his 5-year tenure came to an end.He was succeeded by judicial member Rajeswara Rao Vittanala. Vittanalla will have the strangest tenure as acting President lasting only for a day, June 1, 2021 which will be his last day in office.Vittanalla will be succeeded by Manorama Kumari who will have a tenure for four days from June 2 to June 5..Upon Kumari’s retirement, R Varadharajan will succeed her and he will also have a short tenure lasting for three days from June 6 to June 9.BP Mohan is then likely to succeed Varadharajan on June 10. He will have a longer tenure lasting more than a year before he superannuates on July 26, 2022.Thus, within a span of 11 days from May 31 to June 10, the NCLT will get five Acting Presidents if the Centre does not complete the reappointment process. .Note: Judicial Member HP Chaturvedi would be placed below Manorama Kumari in seniority if date of appointment to NCLT is considered the criterion to determine seniority. In that event, Chaturvedi will not be the acting President since he retires on June 8. However, it has also been brought to our notice that Chaturvedi used to preside over Benches when he used to sit with Manorama Kumari. If Chaturvedi is indeed appointed as acting President, then Manorama Kumari will miss out being the acting President.