Centre Appoints Ex-SC Judge Ashok Bhushan, Who Was Part Of Ayodhya Verdict Bench, As NCLAT Chairperson

The appointment will be for a period of four years, or till Bhushan turns 70 years, whichever comes earlier.

Image: nclat.nic.in

New Delhi: After more than one year of waiting, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLAT) has got a chairperson in the name of Retd. Justice Ashok Bhushan. The appointment will be for a period of four years, or till Bhushan turns 70 years, whichever comes earlier.

Before Justice Bhushan, NCLAT was functioning with officiating chairpersons since former NCLAT chairperson Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya retired in March 2020. Until now, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat and Justice AIS Cheema served as the officiating chairpersons after Justice Mukhopadhaya’s retirement. And after Justice Cheema’s retirement, Justice M Venugopal has been serving as the officiating chairperson.

Justice Bhushan had served as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court in 2015 and was appointed as a Supreme Court judge in 2016. He retired from the position of SC judge in July this year. 

Justice Bhushan was also a part of the five-judge bench which had given the Ayodhya verdict. Before joining the Ayodhya verdict bench, he was a member of the three-judge bench which had refused to refer the 1994 Ismail Faruqui verdict to a larger bench in 2018.

In 1994, the Ismail Faruqui judgement had ruled that Mosque was not essential to offering prayers in Islam. When the Ayodhya case was taken up for hearing again in 2018, the Muslim parties had requested to refer this verdict to a larger bench, which was declined by Justice Bhushan and then Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra.

Justice Bhushan has given important verdicts on Aadhaar and its linking to PAN, and he was also a part of the bench that heard the power tussle case between centre and the Delhi government.