NCLAT New Delhi To Hear Appeal Against Subhash Chandra's ₹6.5 Cr Repayment Plan Tomorrow

Today, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), New Delhi, agreed to hear at 10:30 am tomorrow, an appeal by creditors against approval of Dr Subhash Chandra's Rs. 6.5 crore repayment.

Officiating Chairperson Justice Yogesh Khanna with Technical Members Ajai Das Mehrotra and Barun Mitra noted the reference of the matter to a new five-member Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the creditors, told the NCLAT that the NCLT Delhi Bench referred the matter to a Special Five-Member Bench under Section 419(5) of the Companies Act, 2013 on 31 August.

He submitted that the Special Bench had passed an order today and indicated the NCLAT's intervention may not even be warranted. However, he requested the Appellate Tribunal to take up the matter tomorrow to decide whether the appeal should continue before it. The Bench agreed.

Background

The original two-member Bench of the NCLT, New Delhi delivered a split verdict on the repayment plan, with the Judicial Member supporting approval and the Technical Member opposing it. The Bench then appointed Judicial Member Nilesh Sharma as the third Member to resolve the difference.

Sharma supported approval of the plan on 25 August. The repayment plan offers Rs. 6.25 crore to creditors and Rs. 25 lakh towards process costs against admitted claims of Rs. 22,006.57 crore. Creditors holding 80.814% of the voting share approved the plan, which entails an approximately 99.9% haircut.

However, when the matter returned to the original two-member Bench, the Members noted that Sharma had passed an independent order, leading them to refer the matter to a larger Bench.

NCLT President Justice Anupinder Singh then constituted the Special Five-Member Bench comprising himself, Judicial Members Bachu Venkat Balara Das and Mahendra Khandelwal, and Technical Members Atul Chaturvedi and Ravindra Chaturvedi. The Bench will hear the matter afresh and has issued notices to all parties.