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NCLAT upholds insolvency proceedings against Supertech Realtors

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday affirmed that insolvency proceedings can be initiated against Supertech Realtors, a subsidiary of realty firm Supertech, which is also facing insolvency proceedings along with some other group companies. In doing so, the appellate tribunal upheld the order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Delhi Bench, which had, on 12 June 2024, directed the initiation of the insolvency process against Supertech Realtors on a petition by Bank of Maharashtra, claiming a default of ₹168 crore. 'We, thus, upheld the order of the Adjudicating Authority (NCLT) admitting the Section 7 application and dismiss the appeal. The period during which this appeal remained pending, i.e. from 18 June 2024 till today, shall be excluded from the CIRP (insolvency) process. The IRP (interim resolution professional) may constitute the CoC and proceed with the CIRP in accordance with law. Subject to above, the appeal is dismissed,' a Bench of Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member (Technical) Barun Mitra held. For funding, Supertech sought ₹735.58 crore from a bank consortium led by Union Bank of India. The Bank of Maharashtra was approached for ₹150 crore to partially finance residential apartments, offices, retail space, and a luxury hotel in the project. On 14 December 2012, the bank sanctioned a term loan of ₹150 crore. When the company failed to repay, its account was classified as a non-performing asset on 28 September 2018. On 8 April 2022, the Bank of Maharashtra filed a Section 7 application against Supertech Realtors, citing a default of ₹168 crore. During the case, Supertech offered a one-time settlement (OTS) on 15 June 2022, acknowledging the debt. Although the bank approved the OTS, it later cancelled it for non-compliance. The Delhi High Court dismissed Supertech's challenge to the cancellation on 17 November 2022, and the Supreme Court upheld this on 15 December 2022. Supertech made another OTS on 9 February 2024, offering ₹310 crore to settle all lenders' dues with support from Kotak Advisors. The lead bank discussed the proposal in a Joint Lenders' Meeting on 18 March 2024 but rejected it. This was communicated to the NCLT on 22 March 2024. The NCLT reserved its order and, on 12 June 2024, ruled that default was proven. Supertech appealed to the NCLAT. A revised OTS was later submitted by promoter Ram Kishore Arora with Parmesh Construction Company as co-developer. The Bank of Maharashtra said consortium dues exceeded ₹990 crore, and the lenders rejected the OTS in a meeting on 13 June 2025. Arora claimed he was not informed of the rejection, but the banks said Union Bank of India, as lead bank, had communicated the decision on 15 July 2025 and placed the letter on record before the NCLAT. The Bench also noted that the revised proposal submitted by the insolvent firm's promoter for settlement had not been accepted by the lenders. 'As noted above, the revised proposal submitted by the appellant (Arora) for settlement has not been accepted by the consortium of banks. The Bank of Maharashtra, which has filed the Section 7 application, as well as Union Bank of India, which is the lead bank, has opposed the appeal and prayed for the CIRP (insolvency process) to be continued to resolve the corporate debtor,' the judgment said. Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) empowers any financial creditor or lender to move an application in the NCLT to start the insolvency process against a corporate debtor. Supertech Realtors is developing the Supernova project in Sector 94, Noida, at a cost of ₹2,326.14 crore on 70,002 sq metres of land. Planned to be 80 floors high, the 300-metre structure would be the tallest building in the Delhi–National Capital Region.