Introduction
On April 26, 2024, in what has been hailed as a pivotal moment for Indian aviation and insolvency law, the Delhi High Court (“High Court”) directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (“DGCA”) to deregister planes leased to Go First within five working days, providing much-sought after relief to the lessors of the aircraft.
In a decision delivered by Delhi High Court on June 24, 2024 in the case of The National Sewing Thread Company Limited v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (2024 DHC 4771-DB) it was held that once a resolution plan is approved by the adjudicating authority, the claims not included in the resolution plan stand extinguished, and the same is binding on all stakeholders, including the Central and State governments.
The issue of release/enforcement of third party guarantees as part of a resolution plan of the borrower has been the subject of litigation across various judicial forums in India.
To clarify this issue, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has proposed amendments to IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations 2016 as part of its recent discussion paper.
Since the inception of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 in December 2016, India has witnessed not only a paradigm shift from the conventional ‘debtor in possession’ to a progressive ‘creditor in control’ but has also produced desirable results under the new statutory debt resolution regime.
The Principal Bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi (“NCLAT”) in the case of Pooja Mehra v Nilesh Sharma (RP for Dream Procon Pvt. Ltd.)1, while examining the validity of the appellant homebuyers' claim, dismissed an appeal for condonation of delay of 552 (five hundred and fifty-two) days in filing a claim against the corporate debtor.
The Annual Budget 2024 was presented by the Finance Minister on July 23, 2024. The Modi Government in past 10 years has introduced various ambitious policies and schemes including Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat - promoting domestic manufacturing, and latest vision of Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047. India has been on the path of fiscal consolidation and reduction of fiscal deficit has been the key agenda of the Government. It is expected that the fiscal deficit will fall below 4.5% in FY2025-26 from 5.6% in FY2023-24.
Key Reforms
On July 2, 2024, the Hon’ble Delhi High Court (“Delhi HC”), in the case of Sanjay Dhingra vs.
The Supreme Court in Bharti Airtel Ltd & Anr. v. Vijaykumar V. Iyer & Ors. (Civil Appeals nos. 3088-89 of 2020) clarified the law on permissibility of set-off of claims under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("The Code") at the stage of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process ("CIRP") when the Resolution Professional ("RP") proceeds under Section 25 (2)(a) of the Code.
A guarantor’s rights of subrogation are provided for in Sections 140 and 141 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (“ICA”). These rights allow a guarantor to step into the shoes of the creditor, upon fulfilling the debtor’s payment obligations to the creditor. This means that the guarantor assumes all the rights including the security that the creditor enjoyed against the principal debtor.