A 5-member National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) bench constituted yesterday has directed an earlier special NCLT single bench order of Justice Nilesh Sharma approving media tycoon Dr. Subhash Chandra's Rs. 6.5 crore repayment plan in his personal insolvency case with admitted claims worth Rs. 22,000 crore to be stayed.
The bench has also restricted Chandra from alienating any of his assets directly or indirectly while the matter is heard afresh by the larger bench. The larger bench issued notice to Dr. Chandra as personal guarantor in the case where claims admitted exceed Rs. 22,000 crore.
The 5-member bench will hear detailed arguments, including on the scope of reference for this bench and frame issues accordingly.
The reference to this larger bench comes after an order of the original 2-member bench that heard personal insolvency proceedings against Dr. Subhash Chandra passed an order on August 31 saying that despite the third member's order approving the plan on August 25, no majority opinion had been reached. The 2-judge bench in their order then raised a fresh reference to the NCLT President to hear the matter afresh.
ALSO READ: Subhash Chandra Plans Switzerland Job After Rs 22,006 Crore Debt Resolution
On August 25, Justice Sharma approved a repayment plan by Chandra that would result in a 99.97% haircut from the total claimed amount. Justice Sharma's special order came on the back of a divided opinion between the two original NCLT members, Justice Ashok Bhardwaj and Justice Reena Puri. While Justice Bharadwaj had approved the repayment plan, he had applied it only to creditors that approved the plan and allowed dissenting creditors, including LIC Housing, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, to pursue debt recovery remedies outside the insolvency proceedings. Justice Puri had rejected the plan finding various irregularities with the resolution process. The matter was the referred to third member Nilesh Sharma to create a majority opinion in Febrary 2026.
However, Justice Sharma's third opinion, while approving the repayment plan, did not constitute a majority as it applied the applied the plan to all the creditors, approving and dissenting, in a clear divergence from Justice Bhardwaj's approval to the plan only applied to approving creditors, constituting about 81% of the committee or creditors.
“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,” the August 31 order read.
Before the 5-member bench today, counsel for Dr. Chandra questioned the scope of reference in this matter. Specifically, whether the bench will limit its reference only to the question of whether the plan is to be applied uniformly across creditors, or can be applied only to assenting creditor, or whether this will be a fresh reference to rehear the entire case afresh. The bench will hear arguments on the scope in the next hearing.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
