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Judgment
ORDER
These are 3 Company Appeals which have been preferred by the respective Appellants, by putting a challenge to the Impugned Order dated 19.02.2020 as it has been passed on the respective Interlocutory Applications, being IA No.31 of 20; IA No.32 of 20 and IA No.33/KOB/2020 preferred by the Respondents in CP No.69/KOB/2019, CP No.70/KOB/2019 & CP No.71/KOB/2019 respectively. By virtue of the Impugned Order under challenge, the NCLT, Kochi Bench has passed certain directions for the purpose of regulating the proceedings, as it is contained in the operative portion of part of the order as extracted hereunder: -
“(i)We hereby direct the Respondent Company to maintain the composition of Board of Directors in the 1st Respondent Company as on the date of our earlier order dated 29.08.2019 until the Main Company Petition is finally disposed of.
(ii)Respondent Company is hereby restrained from destruction or alteration of any of the records of the 1st Respondent Company without permission of this Bench until the Company Petition is disposed of.
(iii)The 1st Respondent Company is also hereby directed to arrange for video recording of the Boarding Meetings in future. The 1st Respondent Company is also directed to provide the video recording of the Board meeting held on 28th July 2018 to the applicants in the form of a CD, within a week from the date of this order.
(iv)As status quo order is being passed now in the composition of Board of Directors as on 29.08.2019, we are not inclined to pass any order as regards to the appointment of Independent Chairman at this stage as prayed for.
(v)We have observed that the respondent companies are flourishing family run businesses and that the dispute in this Company Petition is between the family members. Therefore, we suggest Learned Senior Counsels of both the parties to explore the possibility of settling the matter amicably. A report on the efforts made in the regard may be appraised to this Bench on the next date of hearing.
IA/31/KOB/2020 is disposed of as above.
List the main CP/69/KOB/2019 on 09.03.2020.
Dated this the 19th day of February 2020”
Similar orders were passed in the other two connected Appeals. When these Appeals were taken up for hearing at the admission stage, by this Tribunal, it had passed an order on 28.09.2020 granting Interim protection, whereby effect and operation of a part of the Impugned Order was stayed and the following order was passed.
28.09.2020: Heard the Learned Counsel for the Appellants and this Tribunal, at this stage, deems it fit and proper to stay the portion of the order dated 19.02.2020 in IA/31/KOB/2020 in CP/69/KOB/19 (Company Appeal (AT) No.84 of 2020), IA/32/KOB/2020 in CP/71/KOB/19 (Company Appeal (AT) No.85 of 2020) and in IA/33/KOB/2020 in CP/72/KOB/19 (Company Appeal (AT) No.86 of 2020) to the effect that
“the 1st Respondent company is also directed to provide the video recording of the Board meeting held on 28th July, 2018 to the applicants in the form of a CD, within a week from the date of this order.”
In fact, the directions which have been issued since being exclusively procedural in nature, the counsel for the parties agree, that these Appeals may be disposed of with a direction to the National Company Law Tribunal, Kochi Bench, to decide the respective Company Petitions exclusively on its merits, within the period of 3 months in accordance with Law leaving all contentions open for the respective counsels for the parties to be agitated in the Company Petitions. Till the respective Company Appeals are decided within the prescribed time the stay order 28.09.2020 will continue to operate.