NCLAT Reserves Order On Vedanta's Plea Against Approval Of Adani's JAL Resolution Plan

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday reserved orders on Vedanta Limited's appeal challenging the approval of Adani Enterprises Limited's resolution plan for Jaiprakash Associates Limited, with Vedanta arguing that its higher bid was ignored despite offering the maximum value.

Vedanta has challenged the March 17 order of the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, which approved Adani Enterprises' plan while rejecting Vedanta's proposal.

Vedanta had submitted a bid of about Rs.17,000 crore, higher than Adani's Rs.15,000 crore offer, but the Committee of Creditors approved Adani's plan, citing stronger upfront payments, greater certainty of recovery, and overall commercial feasibility.

A bench of Chairperson Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Braun Mitra noted that arguments were completed and reserved the matter for orders.

During the hearing, counsel for Vedanta argued that despite being the highest bidder in terms of overall value, its plan was disregarded in a manner that undermined value maximisation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Senior Advocate Abhijeet Sinha submitted that the Committee of Creditors does not have unfettered authority to act in a manner that compromises transparency and predictability in the process.

He contended that Vedanta's plan, which had the highest net present value, ought to have been selected. He also argued that the evaluation matrix was only a tool and that the process note created an illusion of value maximisation while the outcome favoured another bidder.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the resolution professional, argued that Vedanta's claim of being the highest bidder was based on its own inference from an email communication and that the valuation exercise was not complete at that stage.

Appearing for the Committee of Creditors, Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta argued that the appeal was a vexatious attempt by an unsuccessful resolution applicant to reopen a concluded process. He also raised concerns about a possible leak that may have influenced Vedanta's revised bid.

Counsel for Adani Enterprises argued that the timing of Vedanta's addendum to its resolution plan submitted on November 8, 2025 was suspicious. It was submitted that the request for resolution plan and process documents made it clear that no bidder could have understood that it had secured highest bidder status based solely on net present value and that the final decision depended on overall commercial evaluation.

The appellate tribunal had earlier refused to stay the implementation of Adani's plan. Vedanta challenged that refusal before the Supreme Court of India, which declined to interfere.

Jaiprakash Associates, engaged in construction, cement, and hospitality businesses, has been under prolonged financial stress despite asset sales and was admitted into insolvency proceedings on a petition filed by ICICI Bank.