Title Disputes Over Mortgaged Property Do Not Bar Personal Guarantor Insolvency: NCLT Guwahati

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Guwahat has recently held that pending title disputes over mortgaged property do not bar insolvency proceedings against a personal guarantor, since such proceedings turn on the existence of debt and default rather than adjudication of property rights.A bench of Judicial Member Rammurti Kushawaha and Technical Member Yogendra Kumar Singh passed the ruling while admitting Canara Bank's insolvency petition against Keishing James Lalrongbawl, personal...

NCLT Delhi Directs Restoration Of Power To Ansal's Sushant Golf City Golf Course, Subject To Dues Payment

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at New Delhi Bench has directed restoration of electricity supply to the golf course at Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd's Sushant Golf City project in Lucknow. The relief is subject to the operator paying ₹2 lakh within three days and the balance ₹33.75 lakh within two months, while the Tribunal adjudicates a dispute over termination of its operating agreement during the company's insolvency proceedings. A bench of Judicial Member Ashok Kumar...

NCLT Bengaluru Bars Investors From Other Dreamz Projects From Taking Part In Samhita Project CIRP

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru has refused to allow an investors' association representing depositors in other Dreamz Infra projects to intervene in the project-specific insolvency proceedings for the Dreamz Samhita project, holding that it had failed to establish any project-specific interest. A coram of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada dismissed an application filed by Dreamz GK Investors Welfare Association seeking...

Commercial Transactions Cannot Later Be Recharacterised As Financial Debt To Invoke IBC: NCLT Chennai

The Chennai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 5 May held that parties cannot subsequently recharacterise ordinary commercial transactions as financial debt to invoke insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Judicial Member Jyoti Kumar Tripati and Technical Member Ravichandran Ramasamy dismissed Supreme Plascare India Private Limited's plea seeking initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Shiroo Polymers...

'Enormous Delay': NCLT Bengaluru Refuses To Condone Delay In Punjab Tax Dept's Claim In Falcon Tyres Liquidation

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru recently refused to condone a 1,784-day delay and consequently declined to admit a belated ₹6.09 crore tax claim filed by the Punjab State Tax Department in the liquidation of Falcon Tyres Ltd. A bench of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada dismissed applications filed by the Assistant Commissioner of State Taxes, Jalandhar, seeking condonation of delay and admission of the claim arising under the...

Resolution Professional Cannot Be Passive Spectator In Personal Guarantor Insolvency Process: NCLT Ahmedabad

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Ahmedabad has recently held that a resolution professional cannot remain a “passive spectator” and attribute delays in a personal guarantor insolvency process to the guarantor or the financial creditor without taking proactive steps. The tribunal made the observation while dismissing a plea to close the personal insolvency resolution process with liberty to initiate bankruptcy proceedings. A bench of Judicial Member Shammi Khan and Technical Member...

Oral Dispute Plea Without Supporting Material Does Not Establish Pre-Existing Dispute: NCLT Ahmedabad

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Ahmedabad has recently held that a corporate debtor's plea of an oral dispute over allegedly defective goods, without any supporting material, does not establish the existence of a genuine dispute, while admitting an insolvency plea over unpaid operational debt. A bench of Judicial Member Shammi Khan and Technical Member Sanjeev Sharma observed, “The plea of oral dispute, in absence of any supporting material, does not establish existence of a...

NCLT Delhi Discharges Mukund Choudhary As CLC Industries Guarantor After ₹7.3 Crore Plan Implementation

The New Delhi Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 19 May held that a personal guarantor stands discharged upon full implementation of a repayment plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and that the Personal Insolvency Resolution Process must close once statutory compliances under the Code are fulfilled. Judicial Member Mahendra Khandelwal and Technical Member Ms. Anu Jagmohan Singh, allowed an application filed by Resolution Professional Hemant Sharma under...

NCLT Hyderabad Finds GPT Pharmaceuticals–Punarnava Rasayan CIRP Collusive, Finds No Financial Trail

The Hyderabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has held that parties cannot invoke the insolvency framework under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) in a collusive or malicious manner and that such misuse attracts proceedings and penalty under Section 65 of the Code. Judicial Member Rajeev Bhardwaj and Technical Member Sanjay Puri initiated proceedings under Section 65 of the IBC and imposed a penalty of Rs. 25 lakh each on GPT Pharmaceuticals Private Limited and...

SARFAESI Notice Not Invocation Of Personal Guarantee For Insolvency: NCLT Jaipur

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Jaipur has held that a SARFAESI notice cannot, by itself, amount to invocation of a personal guarantee for initiating insolvency proceedings against a personal guarantor. A bench of Judicial Member Reeta Kohli and Technical Member Kavita Bhatnagar observed that enforcement of security interest under the SARFAESI Act and invocation of a personal guarantee are “conceptually and legally distinct.” The tribunal observed, “Merely because a SARFAESI notice...

Suspended Directors Can Move Tribunal Over Asset Preservation Failures During CIRP: NCLT Kolkata

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Kolkata has recently reiterated that members of a suspended board of directors are not completely remediless during the corporate insolvency resolution process. It held that they may approach the adjudicating authority in appropriate cases concerning conduct of the process, preservation of assets, or alleged violation of statutory duties by the resolution professional or committee of creditors. A bench of Judicial Member Bidisha Banerjee and...

NCLT Ahmedabad Remits Button Industries Resolution Plan To CoC Over Demerger Uncertainty, Cost Ambiguity

The Ahmedabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 22 April remitted the resolution plan of Button Industries Private Limited to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for reconsideration, citing concerns over the conditional demerger structure, uncertainty on CIRP costs, and inadequate disclosure regarding the Successful Resolution Applicant's (SRA) financial capacity. Judicial Member Chitra Hankare and Technical Member Dr. Velamur G. Venkata Chalapathy heard an application under...