6 days ago
NCLT Approval Exposes Huge Subhash Chandra Creditor Recovery Gap
Subhash Chandra gave a personal guarantee for a company loan.
When the loan was not repaid, a lender began insolvency proceedings against him.
Creditors said they were owed about Rs 22,006 crore.
The tribunal approved a plan for Chandra to pay only Rs 6.2 crore or Rs 6.5 crore, according to different reports.
That means creditors will recover only a tiny fraction of what they claimed.
Some lenders argued that the recovery was too small and that Chandra’s finances needed deeper investigation.
The tribunal said the plan had enough creditor support and might produce more money than bankruptcy.
A two-member bench disagreed earlier, so a third member made the final decision.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the outcome made a mockery of India’s insolvency law.
The National Company Law Tribunal approved Subhash Chandra’s repayment plan for admitted claims of about Rs 22,006 crore.
The articles differ on the payout, reporting either Rs 6.2 crore or Rs 6.5 crore.
The payment represents roughly 0.03% recovery and an approximately 99.9% to 99.97% haircut.
The proceedings concern Chandra’s personal guarantee for a Rs 170 crore loan to Vivek Infracon, after which Indiabulls Housing Finance filed the insolvency petition.
A split NCLT bench was resolved by Member (Judicial) Nilesh Sharma, who approved the plan despite lender objections and political criticism.
- Who
- Subhash Chandra, his creditors, Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, and the National Company Law Tribunal.
- What
- The NCLT approved a repayment plan offering approximately Rs 6.2 crore to Rs 6.5 crore against admitted claims of about Rs 22,006 crore.
- Where
- The decision was made by the National Company Law Tribunal in India.
- When
- The plan was approved by Nilesh Sharma on Tuesday; the articles refer to an August 25 order, while the insolvency petition was admitted in 2024.
- Why
- The proceedings followed a default on a Rs 170 crore loan for which Chandra had acted as personal guarantor.
Tribunal and Plan Supporters
Lenders and Critics
Whether the plan should be approved
Tribunal and Plan Supporters
The tribunal approved the plan after concluding that it could provide a better outcome than bankruptcy or liquidation and had the required creditor support.
Lenders and Critics
Lenders argued that recovering only a tiny fraction of the admitted claims was too meagre to justify approval.
Need for deeper financial investigation
Tribunal and Plan Supporters
The tribunal did not accept that a forensic investigation was an essential precondition for approving the repayment plan.
Lenders and Critics
Creditors questioned whether Chandra’s assets and financial affairs had been examined deeply enough.
Impact on the insolvency framework
Tribunal and Plan Supporters
The decision emphasized the tribunal’s limited role in substituting its judgment for the commercial decision of creditors who voted under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Lenders and Critics
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described the outcome as a “mundan” and said it made a complete mockery of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Key facts
- Admitted claims
- About Rs 22,006 crore, specifically reported as Rs 22,006.57 crore in one article
- Approved payout
- Reported differently as Rs 6.2 crore and Rs 6.5 crore
- Estimated recovery
- Approximately 0.03%
- Estimated haircut
- Approximately 99.9% to 99.97%
- Underlying loan
- Rs 170 crore loan to Vivek Infracon
- Creditor support
- About 80.81% of the voting share reportedly supported the plan
- Proceedings
- Filed by Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, now known as Sammaan Capital, and admitted in 2024
Quotes
Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader who criticised the repayment plan on social media
“[It] makes a complete mockery of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code”
scroll.in
A banking source
An unidentified source familiar with the banking perspective on the recovery
“Lenders are effectively being left with very little”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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