Ex-SC judge Ashok Bhushan appointed NCLAT chairman for 4 years

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Retired Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Ashok Bhushan as the chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for 4 years from the date of assuming the charge or till the time he turns 70 years of age.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for appointment of Justice (Retired) Ashok Bhushan, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, as Chairperson, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for a period of 4 years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or till he attains the age of 70 years, or until further orders, whichever is earliest,” the official NCLAT statement read.

Currently, Justice M Venugopal is the Acting Chairperson of the appellate tribunal which is working without a permanent head now for over one-and-a-half years. Justice Venugopal, who is a former Madras High Court (HC) judge, was appointed on September 11, 2021. Justice Mukhopadhyaya, who was the full-time Chairperson, retired on March 14, 2020 after serving as the Chairperson of the appellate body for around 4 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. After this, Justice AIS Cheema worked as the Acting Chairperson of the tribunal from April 19, 2021 and his last day at the NCLAT was September 10, 2021.

(With PTI inputs)

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