W.P.No.31852 of 2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 08.02.2023

CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R. MAHADEVAN

and

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHAMMED SHAFFIQ

Writ Petition No. 31852 of 2017

and

WMP.Nos.35008 and 35009 of 2017

R. Rajesh

Advocate

residing at No.1-9 (1st Floor)

Turnbulls Road, 1st Cross

Nandanam, Chennai - 600 035

.. Petitioner

Versus

1. Union of India

represented by its

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Shastri Bhawan

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road

New Delhi - 110 001

2. The Registrar

National Company Law Board

6th Floor, Block - 3

CGO Complex, Lodhi Road

New Delhi - 110 003

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W.P.No.31852 of 2017

3. Bar Council of India

21, Rouse Avenue Institutional Area

Near Bal Bhawan

New Delhi - 110 002

.. Respondents

Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to

issue a Writ of Declaration to declare that the impugned order of the second

respondent dated 14.11.2017 in file No. 25/02/2017 - NCLT as ultra vires, null

and void and quash the same as illegal, arbitrary and devoid of merits.

For Petitioner

:

Mr. Rajesh

Petitioner - in - person

For Respondents

:

Dr. V. Venkatesan for R1

Mr. S.R. Raghunathan for R3

ORDER

(Order of the Court was made by R. MAHADEVAN, J)

We have heard the petitioner as party-in-person and the learned counsel

for the first respondent as well as the learned counsel for the third respondent

and perused the materials placed.

2.The petitioner is an advocate practicing in the Courts and Tribunals at

Chennai, including the second respondent/Tribunal. He is also a member of the

Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has come forward with this

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W.P.No.31852 of 2017

Public Interest Litigation for a writ of declaration to declare the Order dated

14.11.2017 passed by the second respondent, insofar as it relates to imposition

of dress code for advocates for appearance before the Tribunal. For ready

reference, the order dated 14.11.2017, which is impugned in this writ petition,

is extracted below:

"In addition to the dress code already approved vide order dated

02.08.2016, wearing of gown would be necessary w.e.f. 20th November 2017

in all the benches of NCLT for Hon'ble President, Members and Advocates.

2.

The dress code for other Authorised Representatives and

parties in person shall remain same as issued vide Order dated 02.08.2016."

3.(i)

According to the petitioner, the National Company Law Tribunal

(“the Tribunal or NCLT”) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal

(“NCLAT or the Appellate Tribunal”) were constituted under the Companies

Act, 2013 and the Tribunal started functioning from 01.06.2016. Hitherto,

Company Law Tribunal (CLB) was in existence from 1991 to 2016 until the

constitution of the Tribunal on 01.06.2016. Upon constitution, the Tribunal

exercises similar powers as that of the CLB in addition to the powers as

conferred under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). It is further

stated by the petitioner that the Central Government constituted the Tribunal

with an objective to dispose of cases relating to company matters expeditiously

and to replace the erstwhile CLB and Board for Industrial and Financial

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W.P.No.31852 of 2017

Resconstruction (BIFR) besides the powers that were exercised by this Court

under the Company Law jurisdiction. Thus, after the constitution of the

Tribunal, CLB was dissolved and all the matters pending before the CLB were

transferred to the Tribunal. Consequently, the judicial members from legal

profession and technical members from other professions like Chartered

Accountants, Company Secretaries etc. have been appointed and hence, the

Tribunal is a quasi judicial authority administered by judicial and technical

members. Above all, as per Section 427 of the Companies Act, 2013, the

President, M