National Company Law Tribunal to not accept any fresh filings till March 27

NEW DELHI: All benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will not accept fresh filings till March 27, said a notification on Thursday.
"It is observed that all NCLT benches have become crowded filing counters, which may lead to community transmission of COVID-19 therefore, it is decided to close the filing counters of all NCLT benches hereof," the notification said.

The NCLT Registrar advised that until filing counters are open, parties are directed not to make filings unless the matter is likely to be hit by limitation issues.

"Only in cases that have limitation issues, matters may be filed online at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Amravati and Jaipur and hard copy may be handed over when filing counters are opened," it said.

For other benches, matters can be filed to the email of the respective Registrar of the bench in case of limitation issues.

In an earlier notification on March 15, all benches of the tribunal were directed to adjourn all matters not deemed urgent till March 27.

Additionally, counsels were asked to limit their presence in the tribunals to only those required, adding that their presence was not required for taking adjournments.

However, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has allowed the hearing of matters under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), while adjourning all other non-urgent matters till March 31.