Telangana: Judge on NCLAT Cites Pressure, Recuses Himself
AS Met Corp is engaged in the business of supply of cold rolled full hard (CRFH) strips and coils and strapping steel.
Hyderabad: Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma, judicial member of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) at Chennai, recused from hearing an insolvency case related to Hyderabad-based parties, on the ground that he was approached by “one of most revered member of the highest judiciary of the country for seeking a favourable order in one of the party.”
The case involved an appeal filed by Attluru Sreenivasulu Reddy, suspended director of KLSR Infratech Limited, against the Hyderabad-based AS Met Corp Pvt Ltd and KSLR Infratech represented by its insolvency resolution professional (IRP). The matter was the corporate insolvency resolution process. The appeal has been pending before the Chennai Bench since 2023 and hearings were going on at frequent intervals.
In a recent order, a two-member bench of the NCLAT consisting of Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma, judicial member, and Jatindranath Swain, technical member recorded that one of its members was approached by a senior figure from the higher judiciary seeking a favourable order in one of the party`s favour. Recusing himself, Justice Sharma directed the NCLAT registry to place the case before the chairman of the tribunal.
Orders were expected in the case, arguments for which were closed a month ago. When the serial number for the matter was called out on the day, Justice Sharma expressed his disapproval of the appellant’s conduct. Counsel for the appellant told the tribunal he had no instructions or knowledge of what had transpired outside of the hearings.
The judicial member then unlocked the screen of his phone and asked the appellant’s counsel to take a look at his recent call logs. He then announced and recorded in his order that he was recusing from the case.
AS Met Corp is engaged in the business of supply of cold rolled full hard (CRFH) strips and coils and strapping steel. It had supplied material to KSLR Infratech, which is into water management and supply works and worked in the Mission Bhagiratha project.
