Amid the uncertainty over the formation of the National Company Law Tribunal, the government has extended the term of Company Law Board Chairman S Balasubramanian for two years.
Balasubramanian, whose term was to end in November this year, will continue to hold the post till 2009, according to a recent circular issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
A former bureaucrat, Balasubramanian joined the CLB in 1991 as a member and has remained with the Board since then. He was elevated as chairman in 2004, in what was a deviation from the tradition of appointing judicial persons to the post.
At present, CLB is handling very high profile corporate disputes such as those involving the Bajajs, Birlas, Bhushan Steel, Swaraj Mazda and Appolo Tyres.
During his two-year-tenure, Balasubramanian has passed many important orders including in a case pertaining to Haldia Petrochemicals, in which he gave marching orders to the West Bengal government from the company.
According to sources, the extension was extension as Supreme Court is yet to decide on the fate of the proposed National Company Law Tribunal, which is to replace CLB.
The apex court had a few months ago formed a constitutional bench to decide on it. Earlier, the Madras High Court had struck down certain provisions of the NCLT Act, terming it as unconstitutional. The matter is now before the Supreme Court after the Centre appealed against it.
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