Company law tribunal to come up in 11 cities

The company affairs ministry has identified 11 cities for establishing Benches for the proposed National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The principal bench will be in Delhi. The other benches will be in Noida, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore and Allahabad.

The ministry also plans to set up Benches in Chandigarh, Patna, Cochin, Cuttack and Guwahati.

The hearing on the stay by the Supreme Court on the setting up of the NCLT is likely to take place later this month. The government is hopeful that after the court's decision, the obstacles on way to forming the tribunal will be cleared.

Work on establishing the NCLT had come to a halt after it was challenged in the Supreme Court on the grounds that the tribunal's powers encroached upon the powers of High Courts. The government had filed affidavits with the Supreme Court to ensure that a serving or a retired judge would be the president of the tribunal.

The NCLT and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal are expected to deal with matters related to the liquidation and winding up of relevant jurisdiction of High Courts, which will be transferred to them.

The company law board which, at present, hears company affairs-related cases, has Benches in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.