CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday inaugurated the renovated court premises of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai bench, and said of late, a lot of appointments in NCLAT have been made with full speed by the Government.

In her address at the event, she said it was a very good decision taken by the NCLAT bench to come to Chennai.

The decision was taken even during the COVID lockdown and very studiously and actively the decision was executed and the bench was set up in time and two of the benches will be working sooner.

“The bench had around 50 per cent success of the cases that have been handled,” she said.

Out of the total 578 cases, over 200 of them have been cleared. It is encouraging to have progress in both the NCLT and NCLAT, she said.

Stating that there has always been a bit of resentment outside about the benches not being filled sooner with both the judicial and technical members, Nirmala said if only these members are appointed in time and the cycle is maintained in a well-oiled fashion, the delays and the purpose of holding the NCLAT would itself be served better.

“The resentment was to say that if the filling up of the post happens in time, it would be very helpful,” she said, adding, the government has taken the point very seriously, and of late a lot of appointments have been made with full speed.

She said former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley piloted this Bill and rapidly kept asking for quick amendments which will make it much more robust so that the law can be in the true spirit linking up with the expectations of the companies outside.

“That has been repeatedly proven that the suggestion comes from the judiciary and we have taken it up from the government’s side to frequently and without any hesitations go to Parliament have more and more amendments which will only fine tune the Act,” Nirmala said.

“So, that’s been well taken by the opposition and there has always been very good spirit and cooperation in having the amendments to the NCLT or to IBC and there has never been a question or hesitation or obstruction in having those amendments come through”, the Union Finance Minister said.

Out of 578 cases, over 200 have been cleared and it is encouraging to have progress in both NCLT and NCLAT, says the Finance Minister