Sections 407 and 408 of Companies Act 2013: NCLT Definitions and Constitution

Chapter XXVII of the Companies Act, 2013 deals with the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Section 407 supplies important definitions used in this Chapter, while Section 408 provides for constitution of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Current position: The Central Government constituted the NCLT under Section 408 with effect from 1 June 2016. The Tribunal exercises powers and functions conferred by the Companies Act, 2013 and other applicable laws.

Section 407 - Definitions

Section 407 is the definition provision for Chapter XXVII. Unless the context otherwise requires, it identifies the principal offices and categories of members referred to throughout the provisions governing the Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal.

Chairperson: the Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal.
Judicial Member: a member of the Tribunal or Appellate Tribunal appointed as a Judicial Member; the statutory definition also includes the President or Chairperson, as applicable.
Member: a Judicial or Technical Member of the Tribunal or Appellate Tribunal; the definition also includes the President or Chairperson, as applicable.
President: the President of the Tribunal.
Technical Member: a member of the Tribunal or Appellate Tribunal appointed as a Technical Member.

These definitions should be read with the remaining provisions of Chapter XXVII, including the provisions governing qualifications, selection, tenure, benches, procedure and appeals.

Section 408 - Constitution of National Company Law Tribunal

Section 408 authorises the Central Government, by notification, to constitute the National Company Law Tribunal from the date specified in the notification. The Tribunal consists of a President and such number of Judicial and Technical Members as the Central Government considers necessary. The members are appointed by notification.

The statutory purpose of the NCLT is to exercise and discharge the powers and functions conferred on it by or under the Companies Act, 2013 or any other law for the time being in force. In practical terms, the NCLT is the specialist adjudicatory forum for a wide range of corporate-law matters and also performs adjudicatory functions assigned to it under other legislation, including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

How Sections 407 and 408 work together

Section 407 provides the vocabulary for Chapter XXVII, while Section 408 creates the Tribunal itself. The provisions that follow deal with matters such as qualifications of the President and Members, constitution of the Appellate Tribunal, selection and tenure of Members, benches of the Tribunal, orders, appeals and procedure.

Official NCLT resources

For current bench information, jurisdiction, cause lists, orders and e-filing facilities, use the official NCLT resources linked in the sidebar. Tribunal administration and bench arrangements can change through notifications and administrative orders, so current procedural information should be checked on the official portal.

Note: This page is a general legal information resource. For the authoritative statutory text, amendments, notifications and case-specific procedure, refer to the official legislation and NCLT resources.