NCLAT gets third Acting Chairperson in a row; No full-time head since March 2020

NEW DELHI: Justice M Venugopal has been appointed as the Acting Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), as the key appellate tribunal continues to be without a permanent head now for more than one-and-a-half years.

This is the third time in a row that an Acting Chairperson is at the helm of the NCLAT, which is handling several crucial appeals related to matters under the insolvency and competition laws, after the retirement of Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya on March 14, 2020.

Last week, the Supreme Court raised concerns, saying the Centre was “emasculating” tribunals by not appointing officials to the quasi-judicial bodies that are facing staff crunch.

According to the latest update on the website of the NCLAT, Justice Venugopal has been appointed as the Acting Chairperson of the appellate tribunal from September 11, 2021.

He is a former judge of the High Court of Madras.

He had joined as a Sub-Judge in Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service on June 5, 1997 and later was elevated to Madras High Court in November 2007, where he had served for eleven-and-a-half years.

Justice Venugopal was appointed as a Judicial Member of the NCLAT on October 23, 2019 and was moved to the Chennai bench of the appellate tribunal on January 16, 2021.

Justice Mukhopadhaya, who was the full-time Chairperson, retired on March 14, 2020 after serving as Chairperson of the appellate body for almost four years.

Later, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat became the Acting Chairperson from March 15, 2020, and was given four extensions by the government till he attained the age of 67 years.