Tribunal's Residuary Powers Cannot Be Invoked After Resolution Plan Approval To Reopen Issues: NCLT Kolkata

The National Company Law Tribunal at Kolkata has held that its jurisdiction cannot be invoked after approval of a resolution plan to seek disclosure of CIRP documents or reopen settled issues.

A bench of Judicial Member Bidisha Banerjee and Technical Member Siddharth Mishra said that once a plan is approved, “any claims not included in the plan are generally extinguished, preventing further disputes or litigation, ensuring a 'Clean Slate' for the successful resolution applicant.”

The tribunal dismissed a plea by state tax authorities seeking access to records of Adhunik Alloys and Power Limited. It said allowing such requests years later would “effectively amount to reopening a settled matter and thereby opening a Pandora's box.”

The authorities had sought documents such as forensic audit reports and valuation details, saying these were needed to examine how their dues were treated under the resolution plan and to defend related proceedings. They claimed their dues were shown as contingent liabilities and written off.

The resolution professional and the successful resolution applicant opposed the plea, arguing that the plan approved in December 2018 had attained finality and was never challenged. They also said the documents sought were confidential and not available to non-participants in the process.

Upholding these objections, the tribunal said its powers cannot be used at this stage to compel disclosure or revisit past issues. It stressed that permitting such relief would be “an impermissible exercise of jurisdiction, contrary to the scheme and objective of the Code, which envisages certainty, finality, and timely resolution"