NCLT Bar Body Moves Allahabad HC Against Joint Scrutiny Of Allahabad Bench Filings, Alleges Repeated Defect Objections

The Company Law Tribunal Bar Association, Prayagraj, has moved the Allahabad High Court challenging a public notice dated February 27, 2026 issued by the Registrar of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Principal Bench, which alters the scrutiny mechanism for filings before the Jaipur and Allahabad Benches.

Under the impugned notice, scrutiny of matters filed before the NCLT Jaipur Bench is to be undertaken by the Jaipur registry itself, while scrutiny of matters filed before the Allahabad Bench is to be conducted jointly by the Principal Bench in New Delhi and the Allahabad Bench with effect from March 2, 2026.

The petition points out that even before the public notice was issued, scrutiny of petitions, appeals, and applications filed before the Allahabad Bench had already been shifted to Jaipur in 2025 through an internal arrangement, without any public notification.

A formal complaint dated July 15, 2025 flagged the difficulties this created for practitioners, but no corrective steps followed.

Describing this as discriminatory, the Bar Association says the system of joint scrutiny for Allahabad filings has resulted in repeated objections, delays, and uncertainty in getting matters listed.

It has pointed to instances where defects are raised in a piecemeal manner even after earlier compliance, forcing repeated re-filing and follow-up.

The plea specifically asserts, “Repeated, fragmented and hyper-technical defect scrutiny, prolonged pendency at the filing stage materially obstruct the advocates' professional work and impose unreasonable procedural burdens upon the advocates and the litigants..”

It further contends that litigants seeking urgent interim relief before the Allahabad Bench are unable to secure timely access to the tribunal due to delayed scrutiny, recurring objections, and the denial of a fair, predictable, and efficient filing mechanism.

On these grounds, the petition alleges violation of Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution, arguing that the impugned notice creates an arbitrary distinction between similarly placed litigants and renders the right to effective legal remedy illusory.

The petition seeks quashing of the February 27 public notice and a direction to restore scrutiny of matters filed before the NCLT Allahabad Bench to its own registry.

Pending adjudication, the Bar Association has also sought interim relief to stay the operation of the impugned notice and to transfer scrutiny back to the Allahabad registry to ensure that urgent matters can be processed without delay.