Supreme Court Issues Notice On Venugopal Dhoot's Plea To Include Videocon Foreign Oil Assets In VIL Insolvency

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice in an appeal filed by Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot.

The appeal challenges the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) May 14, 2026, decision refusing to include the foreign oil and gas assets of Videocon Oil Venture Ltd. (VOVL) and its overseas subsidiaries in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Videocon Industries Ltd.

A Bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe issued notice while hearing Venugopal Dhoot's appeal against the NCLAT judgment, which had held that the foreign oil and gas assets of VOVL could not form part of Videocon Industries' CIRP. The Court directed that the appeal be heard along with the connected matter already pending before it.

Senior Advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for Venugopal Dhoot, submitted that the controversy was limited to "whether 7.5 million US dollars' worth of oil and gas assets should be included or not." He pointed out that although a connected appeal was pending, the present matter raised the distinct question of whether the foreign assets ought to be treated as assets of Videocon Industries.

Appearing for State Bank of India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the plea, contending that the appellant had taken inconsistent stands during the insolvency proceedings. He submitted, "The appellant himself has done a flip-flop. Earlier his request was to separate both. Now he takes a convenient stand that it should not have been separated."

After hearing the parties, the Bench observed that the issue was connected with the pending appeal and remarked, "We will take it up along with the other matter." The Court accordingly issued notice and directed that the appeal be listed with the connected matter.

Background

The dispute arose after Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot sought inclusion of the foreign oil and gas assets of Videocon Oil Venture Ltd (VOVL) and its overseas subsidiaries in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Videocon Industries Ltd.

On 12 February 2020, the NCLT Mumbai Bench allowed his application and directed that the assets be treated as assets of Videocon Industries and included in its Information Memorandum, prompting appeals by State Bank of India and other stakeholders.

On Venugopal Dhoot's appeal, the NCLAT held that the issue had already been conclusively decided in its 2022 judgment rejecting Dhoot's challenge. It ruled that the foreign oil and gas assets could not be included in Videocon Industries' CIRP, upheld the commercial wisdom of the Committee of Creditors and observed that Dhoot had himself earlier maintained that the overseas assets were separate from Videocon Industries before subsequently seeking their inclusion during the insolvency process.