On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed special leave petitions challenging the President of the NCLT’s December 2025 order refusing to transfer three pending corporate disputes from the Amravati Bench to Hyderabad. The bench emphasized that transfer requests cannot be motivated by dissatisfaction with tribunal observations, reinforcing that procedural avenues cannot be used to pressure judicial officers.
The petitions arose from applications seeking transfer of three corporate matters, Anitha Rayapati & Ors. vs. BIT Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Tobacco Bye Products Pvt. Ltd., and M/s. Gogeneni Tobaccos Ltd., pending before the Amravati Bench of the NCLT. Petitioners argued for the transfer, claiming that during interim proceedings, a technical member had allegedly “threatened to vacate” an interim stay granted in October 2022. They contended that the Amravati Bench’s actions created an environment necessitating relocation of the cases.
The President of the NCLT rejected the transfer applications, finding the grounds baseless and noting that procedural dissatisfaction could not justify relocation of tribunal proceedings. The petitioners approached the Apex Court, asserting that the rejection was unsustainable in light of a prior Gujarat High Court ruling dated October 16, 2025.
The Apex Court found the transfer plea “motivated and entirely unjustified,” noting that mere dissatisfaction with tribunal members’ observations does not warrant relocation of proceedings. The bench observed that “Proceedings cannot be transferred merely because the Presiding Officer or a Member, during the course of hearing, has made certain observations.”
While the Court did not interfere with the NCLT President’s decision, it separately issued notice in a connected matter to examine the legal question raised by the Gujarat High Court. With these clarifications, the Court disposed of the SLPs, upholding the integrity of tribunal procedure and the discretionary authority of the NCLT President.
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