Govt appoints Justice B L Bhat as officiating chairman of NCLAT

The government has appointed Justice Bansi Lal Bhat as the officiating chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

NCLAT Chairperson Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya retired on Friday.

"Consequent on the completion of the term of Office of Justice (Retd.) Shri S.J. Mukhopadhaya, as Chairperson NCLAT on March 14, 2020, Central Government hereby appoints, Justice (Retd.) Shri Bansi Lal Bhat, Member (Judicial), NCLAT, as officiating Chairperson," an official notification said.

The appointment of Justice Bhat, a former judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, is "for a period of three months with effect from 15.03.2020 or until a regular Chairperson is appointed or until further orders, whichever is earliest."

In a separate notification, the government appointed Justice Anant Bijay Singh as judicial member and Shreesha Merla and Alok Srivastava as technical members of the appellate tribunal.

Justice Bhat had joined NCLAT as a judicial member on October 17, 2017.

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

The NCLAT was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It is also the appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against 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 order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).