In a significant development in the high-stakes personal insolvency proceedings of Essel Group founder Subhash Chandra, a special five-judge bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The tribunal has directed the central investigative agency to file its formal response within four weeks.
The directive comes against the backdrop of the CBI lodging a First Information Report (FIR) against Chandra and others in connection with an alleged ₹1,322-crore loan fraud involving LIC Housing Finance. The probe agency's findings are expected to bear critical relevance to the ongoing insolvency examination, particularly regarding the disclosure of assets, fund flows, and the legitimacy of claims filed before the tribunal.
The five-member bench-led by NCLT President Justice (Retd.) Anupinder Singh Grewal and including Judicial Members Bachu Venkat Balaram Das and Mahendra Khandelwal, along with Technical Members Atul Chaturvedi and Ravindra Chaturvedi-was constituted earlier this month to rehear the case from scratch. The rare formation of a five-judge bench was necessitated after a previous division bench and a subsequent reference judge produced sharply divergent opinions, resulting in no clear majority verdict.
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At the center of the dispute is a contentious repayment plan under Section 95 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Chandra had proposed a repayment of approximately ₹6.25 crore (plus ₹25 lakh for insolvency resolution costs) against admitted creditor claims surpassing ₹22,006 crore—effectively representing a haircut exceeding 99% for lenders.
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