After the Supreme Court’s criticism of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) over its alleged interference in the functioning and appointments of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)’s staff, the ministry on Friday clarified its stand, saying its role in the appointment process is limited to administrative functions.
The ministry issued an official statement, saying the MCA only performs the administrative role in the conduct of the appointment process for the 63 Judicial and Technical Members of the tribunal.
The clarification has come a day after the top court objected to the MCA’s involvement in the tribunal’s administration, saying that the NCLT had been “completely hijacked” by the MCA.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant had stressed the need to preserve the tribunal’s independence by ensuring that recruitment powers remain with the NCLT president.
The bench had made this terse comment while hearing a matter concerning infrastructure and staff appointments at the tribunal on Thursday.
The court’s observations came after concerns were raised over the outsourcing of administrative staff recruitment to a private company.
According to the ministry, the MCA and the NCLT have separate responsibilities and should be viewed accordingly.
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