NCLAT officiating Chairperson Justice B L Bhat gets another extension

The government has again extended the tenure of Justice B L Bhat as the officiating Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Justice Bhat's tenure has been extended further till his attaining the age of 67 years or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

As per the information available on NCLAT website, Justice Bhat's date of birth is April 19, 1954, which means his tenure could be for over three months.

Bhat's tenure as officiating Chairperson of NCLAT was scheduled to end on December 31, 2020.

This is the fourth extension for Justice Bhat since he was appointed as the officiating Chairperson of the NCLAT on March 15, 2020 for three months.

Later, he was given a three-month extension from June 15, 2020 and the tenure was again extended for one month till October 16, 2020.

In October, the government had extended his tenure along with judicial member Justice A I S Cheema till December 31, 2020.

"In continuation of this Ministry's notifications dated 28th October, 2020, the Central Government hereby revise the tenure of Justice Bansi Lal Bhat and Justice A I S Cheema as Judicial Member, NCLAT for a period till their attaining the age of 67 years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," said the notification dated January 11.

Justice Bhat, a former Judge of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, had joined the NCLAT as a judicial member on October 17, 2017.

He was appointed as officiating Chairperson of NCLAT on March 15 for three months.

Prior to this he was a judicial member of the Armed Forces Tribunal and had presided over benches at Chandigarh, Shimla, Jaipur and Delhi.

Presently, the NCLAT like other judicial and quasi-judicial bodies is conducting virtual hearing of cases.

The NCLAT constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It is also an appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT under the IBC and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.

It is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).