Filing unnecessary bulky documents against professional ethics: NCLAT Chennai to lawyers

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chennai recently said lawyers must refrain from burdening the tribunals by filing voluminous documents that have little or no significance to the case under consideration..In an order passed last month, judicial member Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma said that it has become a common practice for lawyers to submit bulky records and citations that added no value to the case being heard and only end up burdening the record section of the tribunal. Such practice not only adds to the litigants’ expenses but also reflects poorly on one’s professional ethics, Justice Sharma said.“It has become a quite common feature of the proceedings which are being instituted before the NCLAT, that voluminous records running in several volumes are being filed, including the citations of very little value addition while unnecessarily burdening the record section of the Tribunal, as well as, the coffers of the litigant,” the order stated..The NCLAT made the observations while hearing a company appeal filed by one A Vijayan, against an order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Chennai that had directed all related company petitions in a matter to be heard together to avoid conflicting judgments.Justice Sharma rejected such appeal noting that the order did not affect the right of any of the parties to the proceedings and thus, did not fall within the ambit of the appellate jurisdiction to make it appealable before NCLAT.While passing the order, the NCLAT also noted that in the present case, that did not even merit filing of the appeal, records that ran into seven volumes and 1,312 pages had been filed..“On this simple count and argument itself, the learned counsel for the Appellant has burdened the litigant to this appeal with the preparation of 7 volumes of documents running to 1312 pages, for no good purpose or valid reason. It is against basic professional ethics. The conduct of the professionals herein is deprecated for the said mode of institution of the proceedings, particularly when the lis engages consideration of an Impugned Order of a nature which is not deciding or affecting any of the right of the Appellant,” Justice Sharma said..K Gaurav Kumar, the Practicing Company Secretary appeared for the appellant A Vijayan.Senior Advocate PH Arvindh Pandian, and advocates Pawan Jhabakh, Jerin Asher Sojan, and Ujjwal Jain appeared for the respondents..[Read order]