Notice to Centre for excluding state from NCLT’s UT Bench

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the Union Ministries of Finance, Law and Justice, Corporate Affairs, and Haryana on a petition against a notification, whereby the territorial jurisdiction to decide cases of companies with offices registered in Haryana has been conferred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in New Delhi.

The petitioner, through senior advocate Anand Chhibbar, submitted this was despite a separate Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal in Chandigarh. The notice came on a petition moved by the Chandigarh Company Law Tribunal Bar Association.

In the petition placed before the Division Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Hari Pal Verma, the Association prayed for quashing of the notification issued on June 1 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

At present, National Company Law Tribunal Bench in Chandigarh is headed by Justice RP Nagrath, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Appearing for the Association, Chhibbar submitted the National Company Law Tribunal Bench in Chandigarh has the jurisdiction over companies with registered offices in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Chandigarh. As such, it could also have jurisdiction over Haryana.

Chhibbar added all matters pertaining to Haryana have to be dealt in appeals, revisions and writs by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Therefore, to vest territorial jurisdiction of the companies registered in Haryana with the National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi, was contrary to the principles of law.

Elaborating, Chhibbar said a common High Court for Haryana, Punjab and UT could handle the litigation for these jurisdictions. But the respondents for unknown reasons, illegally conferred the jurisdiction of Haryana under the National Company Law Tribunal Bench at New Delhi, instead of Chandigarh.

It is also to be borne in mind for the convenience of the litigants of the state of Haryana who will have to first travel to Delhi for filling of their disputes and then will have to travel again to the High Court, Chandigarh, for procuring any interim measures which will create a hassle for the litigants. It will be a complex situation and a paradox in as much as which HC will have the supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution,” Chhibbar submitted.