The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which at present is hearing only urgent matters through video conferencing, has directed litigants to file "joint memos" of written submissions to save time and ensure rapid disposal amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tribunal has asked both sides -- applicants and respondents -- to jointly draft memos, containing points for determination as mutually decided by the parties.
The effort is aimed at making the the process expedient to understand the issues through virtual hearings and dispense justice without any delay.
"This joint memo shall, after having signed by both the parties and the counsel, be filed one day before the date of hearing or at least six hours before hearing," said a notice issued by NCLT registrar dated April 7.
According to the NCLT, this "procedure will avoid delays, avoid filing reply and rejoinder and this memo will be user friendlyto arrive to decisions quickly".
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This would be applicable for all company-related matters and insolvency proceedings going before the tribunal.
According to the notice, the applicants shall brief facts, mention the supporting material papers while narrating facts in five to ten lines and the reliefs thereto and serve the same upon the opposite party along with its application.
The opposite party, in turn, shall brief their defence in five to ten lines and serve the same upon the applicant within 24 to 48 hours.
"Upon exchange of brief facts, both the parties shall jointly draft the points for determination by NCLT," it said
"Based on the points for determination, both the parties shall separately set out reasons supporting their respective stands in two to three lines on each of the points for determination. The applicants shall first set out its reasons in bullet points, and then the opposite party shall set out its reasons in bullet points," it added.
Presently, hearing of all NCLT benches across India is closed following the lockdown declared by the government to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The tribunal is hearing only urgent matters through video conferencing.
The government has extended the tenure of the Acting President of the National Company Law Tribunal,BSV Prakash Kumar, for another three months.
The NCLT was set up under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013 on June 1, 2016.
Besides a Principal Bench at New Delhi, it has fourteen other benches across India in cities which includes Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cuttack, Jaipur, Kochi ,Amravati,and Indore.
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