Petition in Bombay High Court seeks establishment of Bench of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal at Mumbai

A petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court seeking establishment of benches of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) at various locations including Mumbai..The plea filed by Mumbai based lawyer, advocate Nicky Pokar has relied on the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Swiss Ribbons (P) Ltd. v. Union of India wherein the Court noted the submission of Attorney General KK Venugopal, who assured the Court that the directions in another judgment of Madras Bar Association will be followed, and that circuit Benches of NCLAT will be established. Pokar relied on a ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Swiss Ribbons (P) Ltd. v. Union of India where the Court noted the submission of Attorney General KK Venugopal, who assured the Court that the directions in Madras Bar Association will be followed, and that circuit Benches of NCLAT will be established.."The learned Attorney General has assured us that this judgment will be followed and Circuit Benches will be established as soon as it is practicable. In this view of the matter, we record this submission and direct the Union of India to set up circuit benches of NCLAT within a period of six months from today," the Supreme Court had said in Swiss Ribbons case..Pokar has also sought activation of e-filing tab of NCLAT including provisions for payment of e-filing of fees and dispensing with physical filing..The plea points out that despite an e-filing training program in November, 2020, the date of e-filing in NCLAT has not been facilitated yet.It is Pokar's case that the mandatory requirement of filing hard copies was causing difficulty to advocates outside of Delhi."Given the current pandemic condition, axiomatic to state given the poor financial health of a large section of the public coupled with travel and other restrictions, difficulties are aggravated - seeking speedy & cost effective justice is the casualty in corollary," the plea states. .Pokar has, therefore, sought Court's intervention on the ground that in light of the present situation, litigants and advocates were at a distinct disadvantage. .Recently, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court seeking seeking a direction to make the Chennai Bench of NCLAT functional National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).A similar petition is also pending before the Madras High Court.