KOCHI: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will soon open its bench in Kochi, which will help the businesses and the people in Kerala to get speedy redressal of grievances such as failure to pay the dues from companies. After India brought in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs have set up eleven NCLT benches at New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Since the opening of the NCLT benches on December 1, 2016, only eight applications have been filed from Kerala at the Chennai branch, which has jurisdiction over the state. The Kochi bench will be located at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs building at Kakkanad.
Anil Goel, one of the most experienced insolvency professionals in the country, said more than 8,000 applications have been filed before NCLT benches and more than 1,200 orders for the commencement of insolvency process have been started so far. “Only eight cases were filed from Kerala at the NCLT Chennai bench as the awareness is low. However, with the new bench coming up in Kochi in the coming days, we expect more people to approach the bench as the dispute resolution is speedier and the bench is in Kochi,” Goel told Express.
Goel, founder and chairman of Delhi-based AAA Insolvency Professionals LLP, reckoned more applications related to disputes on delay in completion of residential projects/apartments will come in Kerala, where the business environment is not that vibrant.