{"id":14369,"date":"2026-05-27T07:41:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/nclt\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:41:56","slug":"nclt","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/nclt\/","title":{"rendered":"NCLT"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT<\/a>) is a quasi-judicial body established under the Companies Act, 2013 to adjudicate issues related to companies in India. It handles matters including company mergers, acquisitions, winding up of companies, insolvency resolution under the IBC, and disputes between shareholders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Is NCLT?<\/h2>\n

NCLT replaced several older bodies including the Company Law Board (CLB) and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). It is the primary forum for:<\/p>\n

– Corporate insolvency resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code<\/a> (IBC), 2016
\n– Mergers and demerger<\/a>s under the Companies Act (Scheme of Arrangement)
\n– Oppression and mismanagement petitions by shareholders
\n– Winding up of companies
\n– Class action suits against companies<\/p>\n

Structure of NCLT<\/h2>\n

– Principal bench in New Delhi with multiple benches across India (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, etc.)
\n– Each bench has a Technical Member and a Judicial Member
\n– Cases are assigned based on the company’s registered office location<\/p>\n

Key Functions<\/h2>\n

**IBC Proceedings:**
\nNCLT admits insolvency applications, oversees the CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process), approves resolution plans, and orders liquidation if no plan is approved.<\/p>\n

**Mergers and Demergers:**
\nAll mergers and demergers of listed and large unlisted companies require NCLT approval under Sections 230-232 of the Companies Act.<\/p>\n

**Shareholder Disputes:**
\nSection 24<\/a>1-244 allows minority shareholders to file petitions for oppression and mismanagement of company affairs.<\/p>\n

NCLT vs Civil Courts<\/h2>\n

Before NCLT, company-related disputes went to High Courts, which are overburdened. NCLT provides a specialised forum with members who have corporate law and financial expertise.<\/p>\n

Practical Example<\/h2>\n

When Tata Sons sought to remove Cyrus Mistry as chairman in 2016 and Mistry challenged it, the case went to NCLT. NCLT initially ruled in favour of Tata Sons. Mistry appealed to NCLAT<\/a> and later to the Supreme Court. This case tested NCLT’s jurisdiction on corporate governance disputes.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

– NCLT is India’s specialised tribunal for corporate law matters including insolvency, mergers, and shareholder disputes
\n– Established under Companies Act, 2013; handles IBC proceedings as the adjudicating authority
\n– Multiple benches across India; presided over by judicial and technical members
\n– Has significantly reduced the load on High Courts for company law disputes
\n– NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) hears appeals from NCLT orders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body established under the Companies Act, 2013 to adjudicate issues related to companies in India. It handles matters including company mergers, acquisitions, winding up of companies, insolvency resolution under the IBC, and disputes between shareholders. What Is NCLT? NCLT replaced several older bodies including the Company […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14369","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"web-stories-poster-portrait":false,"web-stories-publisher-logo":false,"web-stories-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team Lemonn","author_link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/author\/ashu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body established under the Companies Act, 2013 to adjudicate issues related to companies in India. It handles matters including company mergers, acquisitions, winding up of companies, insolvency resolution under the IBC, and disputes between shareholders. What Is NCLT? NCLT replaced several older bodies including the Company…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}