NCLT President Submits Enquiry Report After NCLAT Calls Chennai Bench Order “Rather Dubious”

Outgoing NCLT President Chief Justice (Retd.) Ramalingam Sudhakar has firmly rejected allegations of impropriety against the Chennai Bench, stating that “no material has emerged suggesting any impropriety, bias or departure from judicial discipline.”

The report was submitted pursuant to an enquiry ordered by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in an appeal filed by Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Limited in the insolvency proceedings of Regen Powertech Private Limited.

While dismissing the appeal on March 6, 2025, as having been rendered infructuous, the appellate tribunal observed that the manner in which the March 15, 2022, order of the Chennai Bench was passed “appears rather dubious” and that the facts “raise questions over the functioning of NCLT.” It requested the president of the NCLT to look into the issue and conduct an enquiry.

In his report dated February 6, 2026, Justice Sudhakar recorded that he examined the factual report, documentary material, registry records, cause lists, court diary entries, and e-portal data.

He noted that in its own memorandum before the appellate tribunal, the appellant had stated that the matter was inadvertently not listed on February 15, 2022, that its counsel mentioned the non-listing before the bench and that the registry was directed to list the matter on March 15, 2022.

He observed, "The Appellant's own pleadings thus unmistakably confirms that the listing of the matter on 15.03.2022 occurred pursuant to a judicial direction on appellants mention.”

Addressing the concerns raised by the appellate tribunal, he concluded: “The minor discrepancies noticed were administrative in nature and occurred in the backdrop of staffing limitations prevailing during the relevant period post Covid - 19, and do not in any manner impinge upon the integrity, or fairness of the adjudicatory functioning of the Tribunal.”

He further submitted “I hold, that it is not a dubious order and it is the Appellant who has dubiously failed to inform the Appellate Tribunal that he has mentioned the case for listing of the matter and it is on his request that the matter was listed on 15.03.2022.”

The report also addressed discrepancies in the e-portal. It recorded that the incorrect display of the next hearing date was due to an administrative data-entry error and that it “did not emanate from any judicial direction.”

Beyond the specific enquiry, Justice Sudhakar highlighted the tribunal's overall performance. He stated, “Based on the institutional integrity, NCLT performance in the last 4 years has been phenomenal,” adding that scrutiny of cases filed across India has been reviewed and cleared every month and that nil status is reported monthly on the NCLT website. He further recorded that data is uploaded every quarter and affirmed by the recent Economic Survey.

He also stated that “Even AR login delays have been reduced to a great extent” and that “Many of the advocates have given their appreciation on the manner in which virtual courts are being conducted.”

He added that the tribunal has given back “nearly Rs.20 Lakh crores in various forms of adjudication” and that “so far 1501 plans have been approved.”

Concluding his remarks, Justice Sudhakar stated that “NCLT has been bearing the cross for many accusations to which it is not responsible” and that the order calling for enquiry, once uploaded on the website and reported in the media, “has invited unwanted criticism which could have been avoided.”