Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sasmit Patra on Monday, 18 May wrote to Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra, calling for urgent measures to strengthen the infrastructure and institutional capacity of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The letter came in the wake of a reported power outage at the NCLT Principal Bench in New Delhi that allegedly disrupted ongoing court proceedings.

The Trigger: Power Outage at CGO Complex

The immediate provocation for Patra's letter was a power failure at the NCLT Principal Bench located at the CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, which reportedly occurred on the same day. According to the letter, inadequate backup power support meant that court proceedings were disrupted — an incident Patra described as symptomatic of a deeper, systemic problem with tribunal infrastructure across the country.

Patra noted that the outage was not an isolated event. During the monsoon last year, courtrooms at the CGO Complex reportedly flooded, forcing courts to operate in shared spaces and on half-day shifts — conditions he argued were incompatible with the gravity of matters adjudicated before these tribunals.

Conditions on the Ground

The letter drew attention to the constrained working conditions under which Judicial and Technical Members of the NCLT currently operate. Members reportedly discharge their duties from temporary and rented premises, while the NCLAT continues to function from rented Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) premises.

'Many practitioners appearing before the National Company Law Tribunal would attest to the difficult circumstances in which the institution continues to function,' Patra wrote in his communication to the minister.

NCLT's Growing Economic Significance

Patra emphasised that despite these infrastructural constraints, the NCLT has evolved from a Company Law Tribunal into what he called the backbone of India's insolvency framework, delivering significant economic outcomes under mounting judicial workloads and limited institutional support. The tribunal sits at the centre of proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), handling cases involving large corporate debtors and financial creditors.

The BJD leader argued that institutions entrusted with responsibilities of such economic significance deserve commensurate institutional support and recognition — a case he said the current ground realities starkly contradict.

Key Demands Raised with the Ministry

In his letter to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Patra urged consideration of the following measures:

Permanent and modern infrastructure for NCLT and NCLAT benches across the country; uninterrupted courtroom operations supported by adequate power backup systems; augmentation of bench strength along with permanent staffing; improved institutional support for Judicial and Technical Members; and a review of the compulsory three-year rotation policy to promote continuity and specialisation among members.

'The National Company Law Tribunal and its Members deserve institutional support and recognition while functioning under extraordinarily difficult circumstances,' Patra stated in the letter.

What Happens Next

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is yet to formally respond to Patra's letter, according to available information. With the NCLT's caseload continuing to grow as IBC proceedings intensify, the call for infrastructure reform is likely to find resonance among legal practitioners and industry stakeholders who regularly engage with the tribunal system.