Cheque Dishonour Prosecution Barred When Accounts Are Blocked By Insolvency Law: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has quashed three criminal cases linked to cheque dishonour, reiterating that cheques returned with the remark “account blocked” due to insolvency proceedings cannot lead to criminal prosecution.A single bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna passed the order while allowing petitions filed by Farhad Suri and Dhiren Navlakha, directors of Sumeru Processors Pvt. Ltd. The court said the section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act pertaining to cheque dishonor apply only when a...

Disputes Over Oppressive Extraordinary General Meetings Lie Outside Civil Courts: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that disputes alleging oppression of a member through an Extraordinary General Meeting are company law disputes that fall squarely within the jurisdiction of the National Company Law Tribunal. The court reiterated that these disputes cannot be examined by a civil court. Bhaskar Gupta, a long-standing member of Calcutta Club Ltd for over four decades and a former chairman of the club's finance sub-committee, had challenged an EOGM convened by the club to consider...

IBC Resolution Doesn't Extinguish Statutory Claims Left Open By NCLT: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has clarified that approval of a resolution plan under insolvency law does not wipe out claims that were specifically excluded and left open by the tribunal at the time of approval.A Division Bench of Justices Madhuresh Prasad and Supratim Bhattacharya, in an order dated December 8, 2025, dismissed an appeal filed by S.S. Natural Resources Pvt Ltd and upheld a demand for transfer fees raised by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for industrial land at...

Mesne Profit Claims After IBC Resolution Can Proceed Only Against Former Management: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that proceedings to calculate mesne profits can continue only against a company's former management once a resolution plan is approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.Mesne profits refer to the claim arising from unlawfully occupying someone else's property. The court clarified that such proceedings cannot continue against the company itself or its new management after the resolution plan takes effect. A division bench of Justices Debangsu...

Kerala High Court Revives Two KELTRON Subsidiaries After Two Decades, Recalls Winding Up Orders

The Kerala High Court has recalled its winding up orders against two subsidiaries of Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (KELTRON), allowing the revival of Keltron Power Devices Ltd (KPDL) and Keltron Rectifiers Ltd (KRL). The court noted that there was no legal or procedural bar to reopening the companies in view of changed circumstances and fresh government approval. KELTRON is a state-owned electronics major engaged in IT hardware and software. Its group companies also...

Civil Court Cannot Grant Injunctions In NCLT Matters, High Court Can Set Them Aside: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently reiterated that civil courts have no jurisdiction to entertain suits in matters that fall within the exclusive domain of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The court held that injunctions granted in violation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code are "patently illegal" and liable to be struck down. The ruling was delivered by a single bench of Justice K Natarajan in an order dated December 12, 2025, while dismissing a review petition filed by T Beena,...

IBC | All Property, Including Alleged Benami Assets, Shielded From Action Over Pre-Resolution Offences: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has recently held that once a resolution plan is approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, authorities cannot proceed against any property standing in the name of a corporate debtor for offences committed before the insolvency process, even if such property is alleged to be held benami. A single bench of Justice G R Swaminathan ruled that Section 32A(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, offers wide protection to the property of a corporate debtor after...

Delhi High Court Quashes Pre- Insolvency Resolution GST Demands Against Patanjali Foods

The Delhi High Court has set aside GST demands raised against Patanjali Foods Limited (Ruchi Soya) for periods preceding the final approval of its insolvency resolution plan on September 4, 2019. The court held that all statutory dues not included in the approved plan stood extinguished. A division bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Shail Jain, in a judgment delivered on December 11, 2025, allowed Patanjali Foods' writ petition challenging an order dated January 21, 2025, along...

SARFAESI Sale Cannot Proceed If Sale Certificate Is Not Issued Before IBC Moratorium: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday held that a secured creditor cannot proceed with a SARFAESI sale once an interim moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code comes into force. It rulled that the Union Bank of India was not entitled to accept balance payments or issue a sale certificate after the personal insolvency process against the borrower had commenced. In an order passed on December 10, Justices R I Chagla and Farhan P Dubash held that “the secured creditor could not have...

Mere Forgery Claims Do Not Oust NCLT's Jurisdiction To Examine Disputed Company Records: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that mere allegations of fraud or forgery cannot be used to oust the jurisdiction of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The court ruled that civil courts cannot entertain parallel suits when the same issues are already before the NCLT in an oppression and mismanagement case. A single bench of Justice Amit Mahajan, subsequently, set aside a trial court order that had refused to reject a civil suit filed by the founders of a defence-tech startup,...

'High Courts Do Not Substitute Statutory Tribunals', Calcutta High Court Refuses To Halt Guarantors' Insolvency Proceedings

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday held that it cannot interfere with personal insolvency proceedings initiated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, holding that such proceedings must take their course before the National Company Law Tribunal. A single bench of Justice Krishna Rao said the High Court could not halt a proceeding that falls within the jurisdiction of the adjudicating authority. The court said, “The National Company Law Tribunal being the statutory forum under the...

Delhi High Court Slaps ₹1 Lakh Cost On Litigant For Misusing Writ Jurisdiction To Stall DRT, NCLT Proceedings

The Delhi High Court recently imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on a litigant while dismissing his writ petition that sought to halt proceedings pending before two Debts Recovery Tribunals and the National Company Law Tribunal. The Court held that the petitioner, Sanjeev Krishan Sharma, had failed to show any violation of fundamental rights, statutory mandate or natural justice that could justify invoking the High Court's extraordinary writ jurisdiction. The Division Bench of Justices Anil...