Former BPSL promoters argue against liquidation in SC

The Hindu

12 hours ago

A Special Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Thursday began hearing a review of a May 2 verdict of the court, which rejected a resolution plan submitted by JSW Steel for Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL).
The apex court judgment had further ordered the liquidation of BPSL to commence.
Appearing for the former promoters of BPSL, senior advocate Dhruv Mehta urged against the liquidation and sought a fresh corporate insolvency resolution process to be initiated if JSW's resolution plan was found faulty.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Committee of Creditors, said the ex-promoters had 'no business' questioning the terms of the resolution plan.
On May 26, the apex court had ordered status quo in the liquidation proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal. The court had passed the order of status quo on liquidation to give JSW time to file a review petition.
The court had, at the time, said status quo ought to prevail for BPSL in the interest of justice and to avoid future complications.
JSW had argued that the case was complicated, and must not be rushed into liquidation. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, for JSW, had informed the court that BPSL had an annual turnover of Rs. 28,000 crore in one year. Its production had increased from 2.5 metric tonnes to 4.5 metric tonnes. The concern employed 25000 people.
On May 2, the Supreme Court had found JSW's Resolution Plan for BPSL in 'flagrant violation and contravention' of the law.
'The Resolution Professional had utterly failed to discharge his statutory duties contemplated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) Regulations during the course of entire CIR proceedings of the corporate debtor, BPSL,' the Supreme Court had concluded.
The court had invoked its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the NCLT to initiate liquidation proceedings against the BPSL under the IBC.