NCLAT Admits Appeal Against NCLT Mumbai Order Waiving Membership Requirement For IMPPA Members' Oppression Plea

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has admitted an appeal filed by the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) against a Mumbai NCLT order.

The order had allowed members of the association to pursue an oppression and mismanagement petition after waiving the statutory membership requirement under Section 244 of the Companies Act.

The matter was heard by a bench of Judicial Member Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma and Technical Members Arun Baroka and Indevar Pandey.

The dispute stems from a company petition filed by four IMPPA members on May 9, 2026. They had alleged several irregularities by the association, including wrongful suspension of its members, financial irregularities, and several other issues of mismanagement. 

IMPPA challenged the maintainability of the petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It argued that the petition lacked the support of the required number of members under Section 244(1)(b) of the Companies Act. The petitioners responded by filing a waiver application on June 2, 2026.

The NCLT rejected those objections, granted the waiver, and allowed the petition to proceed.

Challenging that order, IMPPA told the NCLAT that the tribunal should first examine the validity of the members' consent and the impact of the subsequent waiver application under Section 244 of the Companies Act.

The respondents have been asked to file replies to the interim relief application and the main appeal within two weeks. IMPPA may file its rejoinder a week later. The matter will next be heard on September 1, 2026..