Context: Recently, the government has appointed 31 people as judicial, technical and accountant members at the NCLT and the ITAT, amid the Supreme Court flagging concerns about vacancies in various tribunals.
- The appointments also come at a time when the Supreme Court has flagged concerns, saying the Centre was “emasculating” tribunals by not appointing officials to the quasi-judicial bodies that are facing staff crunch.
About NCLT
- The Central Government has constituted National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) w.e.f. 01st June 2016.
- It is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies.
- Decisions of the NCLT may be appealed at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
- The NCLAT decisions can be challenged at the Supreme Court on a point of law.
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal(ITAT)
- ITAT is a quasi-judicial institution set up in January 1941 and specializes in dealing with appeals under the Direct Taxes Acts.
- The orders passed by the ITAT are final, an appeal lies to the High Court only if a substantial question of law arises for determination.
- It was started in 1941 with six Members constituting three Benches - one each at Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Mumbai (Bombay), the numbers of Benches have progressively increased and presently ITAT has 63 Benches at 27 different stations covering almost all the cities having a seat of the High Court.
Difference between NCLT and ITAT
- The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) deals with matters mainly related to companies law and insolvency law while the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) deals with income tax matters.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NCLT AND NCLAT
NCLT
- NCLT is established as per Section 408 of companies act, 2013
- It holds primary jurisdiction on cases of insolvency and bankruptcy
- NCLT accepts and analyzes the evidence from creditors and debtors
- NCLT collects facts and evidences
NCLAT
- NCLAT is established as per Section 410 of companies act, 2013
- It holds appellate jurisdictions over the cases judged by NCLT
- NCLAT accepts and analyzes the decision made by NCLT
- NCLAT analyzes facts and evidences
Further, with enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, another area of practice has been opened for Company Secretaries to make appearance before Tribunal in Insolvency and Liquidation cases.