Centre Extends Term Of Justice (Retd.) Bansi Lal Bhat As Officiating Chairperson Of NCLAT [Read Notification]

In a notification issued to this effect it is intimated that he shall hold that office upto October 16, 2020.

He was appointed to the said office on March 12, 2020 and took charge on March 15, for a period of three months. His tenure was thereafter extended by the Central Government for a further period of three months with effect from June 15, 2020.

Recently, the Delhi High Court had issued notice to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Registrar of NCLAT in a plea challenging his appointment as such. The Petitioner, Advocate Fozia Rahman, is aggrieved by the fact that the Central Government has not appointed the senior most member of the NCLAT as its officiating Chairman.

As per NCLAT's website, Justice Bhat enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Association of Srinagar in 1975 after obtaining his law degree from the University of Kashmir. He practiced in Civil, Criminal and Revenue Courts until selection in KCS Judicial in 1982.

He was promoted as a Sub Judge in June 1989 and served as the CJM, Jammu till his induction in the Higher Judicial Service in August 1999, whereafter he served as Principal District and Sessions Judge in both Jammu and Srinagar besides at Poonch, Reasi and Kathua.

He also served as Presiding Officer of Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Jammu for a year and as Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Jammu for two tenures. He was appointed as Special Judge of the newly created Anti-Corruption Court for trial of CBI cases in August 2011 where he served till his elevation as an Additional Judge of the J&K High Court on March 8, 2013.

He was made a permanent judge of the J&K High Court in September 2014 and was appointed as the President of J&K State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in December, 2016; but had to resign after 19 days as he was appointed as Judicial Member in the newly set up Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench Srinagar at Jammu. Later, in 2017, he resigned from the position after being appointed as Judicial Member of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi on October 17, 2017.

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