In a development that will help ease the burden of bankruptcy courts and expedite the resolution of distressed assets, the corporate affairs ministry has appointed 30 judges to various benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) across the country.
Seven judges were appointed in Mumbai while five were appointed in New Delhi, the ministry said in a notification on its website.
In our weekly wrap-up of the developments related to stressed assets, the most prominent name in the list of debt-laden companies is Jet Airways. Drugmaker Orchid Pharma Ltd and steelmaker Adhunik Metaliks Ltd were the other companies in the news this week.
Jet Airways
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday admitted an insolvency plea filed by State Bank of India (SBI) against grounded airline Jet Airways.
The insolvency process will allow lenders led by SBI to sell the debt-ridden company as a whole or sell its assets in a piecemeal fashion.
The tribunal asked the resolution professional to immediately take over the airline’s assets and handle the case with ‘utmost care’ given its national implications.
The court has also sought a progress report within three months and directed the resolution professional to submit updates every 15 days starting July 5.
Orchid Pharma
Even as Dhanuka Laboratories Ltd’s offer for Orchid Pharma is with the NCLT, Chennai-based Accord Life Spec Pvt. Ltd has told the tribunal that it is ready to revise its proposal to Rs 615 crore, Business Standard reported.
According to the report, Accord Life is part of the Rs 1,700 crore Accord group, established by DMK leader and former Union minister of state S Jagathrakshakan.
Apart from Accord, two other drug companies – Gurugram-based Dhanuka and Hyderabad-based Covalent Laboratories – had bid to buy Orchid Pharma.
Dhanuka had made the highest bid. But the process ran into a new hurdle on June 11 when Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd changed its vote to dissent against the proposal, just ahead of the closing of the e-voting on Dhanuka’s offer.
Thereafter, Accord told the tribunal that the decision of the resolution professional to propose Dhanuka's resolution plan was procedurally illegal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. It also said that it was willing to increase the value of its own resolution plan after negotiations with Orchid’s creditors.
Moser Baer Solar
Moser Baer Solar Ltd is heading for liquidation after the debt-laden company failed to get any insolvency resolution plan from any buyer within the mandated 270 days.
The principal bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), chaired by Justice MM Kumar, directed the company to go under liquidation on May 30 and appointed Arvind Garg as the liquidator.
Moser Baer Solar is a subsidiary of optical storage media maker Moser Baer India Ltd, which is also undergoing liquidation.
Adhunik Metaliks
The Cuttack bench of the NCLT has reserved its order on a plea by lenders seeking re-initiation of the insolvency resolution process against bankrupt Adhunik Metaliks Ltd, The Financial Express reported.
The plea was filed by the counsel of the committee of creditors (CoC) after UK-based Liberty House allegedly failed to make the upfront cash payment of Rs 410 crore even within the extended timeline to acquire the debt-ridden company.
After hearing arguments from counsels for the creditors and Liberty House, Justice MB Gosavi on Tuesday reserved his order on all applications, including re-initiation of the insolvency process for the steelmaker.
