High Court Dismisses Petition Challenging NCLT Acting President Appointment

The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition challenging Bachu Venkat Balaram Das's appointment as acting president of the NCLT, following the Central government’s decision to appoint Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal as tribunal president. The petition had questioned the appointment based on seniority rules, which the court deemed infructuous.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition aimed at challenging Bachu Venkat Balaram Das's appointment as acting president of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). This petition was rendered moot due to the central government's recent appointment of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal, a former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, as the president of the tribunal.

A bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and O P Shukla clarified that with Justice Grewal's appointment, the writ petition dealing with the position of acting president at NCLT has become infructuous. The petition, filed by Kaushalendra Kumar Singh, contended that the senior-most member, whether judicial or technical, should be appointed acting president.

The argument centered around the petitioner claiming seniority over Das, due to an earlier joining date. While Das joined as a judicial member on October 18, 2021, Singh joined as a technical member on October 1, 2021. However, the appointment followed the convention of appointing the senior-most judicial member, rendering Singh's contention void.