Make decision on NCLT tenure public: SC to govt

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to make public the decision taken by the committee headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on the issue of extending the three-year tenure of 23 members of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to five years.

The Centre claimed confidentiality over the decisions taken by the three-member committee comprising the CJI, justice Surya Kant, and the secretary, ministry of corporate affairs, and declined to disclose them to the petitioner,

NCLT bar association, which approached the SC in March demanding the tenure of the 23 members be revised to five years.

A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Hima Kohli said: “There can’t be so much secrecy over this document. Of what we have seen that you filed, there is no breach of confidentiality.” The bench directed the Centre to file an affidavit by Friday, bringing on record the decisions by the committee in meetings held on March 20 and June 6, and supply a copy to the petitioners. The court will hear the matter on Monday.

The issues surrounding appointment of members in tribunals and their service conditions have of late emerged as a flashpoint between the judiciary and the executive with the top court repeatedly reproaching the Centre over massive vacancies.

All tribunals should be abolished if the Union government cannot care enough to man them, an anguished court observed in March this year.

In February, the top court imposed varying monetary fines up to ₹1.5 lakh on several states for not making appointments in the consumer courts within the fixed timeline.

According to an affidavit filed by the Centre in September last year, about 200 posts were vacant across 15 tribunals.

On Thursday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, submitted to the court the two resolutions passed by the committee. But the bench observed that it would have been appropriate if the documents were filed in an affidavit. “It is a serious matter. If you go by statutory provisions, it goes against it. The Tribunal Reforms Act 2021 prescribes for tenure of four years,” it added.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for NCLT bar association, questioned the selective approach of the Centre.