1 day ago
NCLT Five-Member Bench Stays and Reconsiders Chandra Repayment Plan
Subhash Chandra is involved in a legal insolvency case because he guaranteed loans for some Essel and Zee-linked companies.
He offered to pay ₹6.25 crore to creditors and ₹25 lakh for the insolvency process.
The creditors’ admitted claims total about ₹22,006.57 crore.
Some lenders supported the proposal, but several major lenders opposed it because they considered the recovery too low.
The earlier tribunal members disagreed about whether lenders who rejected the plan should still have to follow it.
Because there was no majority decision, the tribunal’s earlier order could not stand unchanged.
A larger five-member NCLT bench has stayed that order and will examine the matter again.
Chandra cannot transfer property while the new proceedings are continuing.
The NCLT five-member bench stayed the August 25 order approving Subhash Chandra’s repayment plan.
The earlier three-member panel found no majority because its members took materially different positions on the plan.
The proposal provides ₹6.25 crore to creditors and ₹25 lakh for insolvency costs against admitted claims of ₹22,006.57 crore.
Several lenders, including HDFC Bank, LIC Housing Finance, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank and Union Bank of India, opposed the plan.
The five-member bench will hear the case afresh on September 1, 2026, while Chandra is barred from transferring property during the proceedings.
- Who
- Subhash Chandra; creditors including HDFC Bank, LIC Housing Finance and Union Bank of India; the NCLT; and the NCLAT.
- What
- A five-member NCLT bench has stayed the August 25 repayment-plan order and will rehear Chandra’s personal insolvency case.
- Where
- The case is before the NCLT Special Bench, New Delhi, Court No. II; related creditor proceedings were also brought before the NCLAT.
- When
- The five-member bench was constituted on August 31, 2026, and is scheduled to hear the matter at 10:15 a.m. on September 1, 2026.
- Why
- The earlier three-member panel had no majority on how the repayment plan should affect dissenting creditors.
Plan Supporters
Plan Opponents
Whether dissenting creditors are bound
Plan Supporters
One member held that the plan should apply to all creditors, including those that voted against it, because creditors participated in the process and sufficient prejudice had not been shown.
Plan Opponents
Another member held that the plan should apply only to supporting creditors, leaving dissenting banks and financial institutions free to pursue separate recovery proceedings.
Adequacy of the recovery
Plan Supporters
The member approving the plan said the tribunal should not replace the required majority of creditors’ commercial assessment with its own judgment.
Plan Opponents
Opposing lenders challenged the extremely low recovery and argued that creditors rejecting the plan should not be forced to accept it.
Status of the August 25 order
Plan Supporters
The plan had received 80.81% support by value and was approved in the August 25 opinion issued by third member Nilesh Sharma.
Plan Opponents
The larger bench said the earlier panel had no clear majority, stayed operation of the August 25 order and ordered a fresh hearing.
Key facts
- Repayment to creditors
- ₹6.25 crore
- Insolvency process costs
- ₹25 lakh
- Total proposed payment
- ₹6.5 crore
- Admitted creditor claims
- ₹22,006.57 crore
- Plan support
- 80.81% of creditors by value
- Plan opponents
- HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank and Union Bank of India voted against it
- New bench
- NCLT President Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal, judicial members Bachu Venkat Balaram Das and Mahendra Khandelwal, and technical members Atul Chaturvedi and Ravindra Chaturvedi
Quotes
National Company Law Tribunal
The tribunal handling Subhash Chandra’s repayment-plan proceedings
“All said and done, no majority view has emerged in the matter. In the wake, no order can be passed at this stage. Resultantly, we have no option but to make fresh reference to Hon’ble President in terms of the provisions of Section 419(5) of the Code.”
livemint.com
thestatesman.com
“We have complete faith and confidence in our judicial system”
financialexpress.com
Sources
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