In its decision in Ghanashyam Mishra & Sons Pvt. Ltd. v. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd., a bench of three Judges of the Supreme Court held that “Harmonious construction of clause (10) of Section 3 of the I&B Code read with clauses (20) and (21) of Section 5 thereof would reveal, that even a claim in respect of dues arising under any law for the time being in force and payable to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority would come within the ambit of ‘operational debt’.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its order dated May 18, 2022 in Indian Overseas Bank Versus M/S Rcm Infrastructure Ltd. And Another[1] observed that the proceedings under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) cannot be continued once the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) has been initiated and moratorium is ordered under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
On August 3, 2022, a division bench of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court (“High Court”) comprising of Justice K.R. Shriram, and Justice A.S. Doctor in the case of Phoenix ARC Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. v.
Since the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in 2016 (“IBC, 2016), the judiciary has been very active in settling disputes and addressing the gaps arising from this controversial legislation. Recently, yet another dispute arising out of a technical gap in the IBC has been resolved by the Apex Court in the case of M/s Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited v. M/s Hitro Energy Solutions Private Limited.1
Brief facts of the case
Mani Gupta, Aman Choudhary and Saumya Upadhyay, Sarthak Advocates & Solicitors
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's The Asia-Pacific Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
In summary
INTRODUCTION
The Supreme Court of India (“Supreme Court”) in Sundaresh Bhatt, Liquidator of ABG Shipyard vs. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has held that the Customs Act, 1962 (“Customs Act”) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) act in their own spheres. In case of any conflict, the IBC would override the Customs Act.
A 3-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in its judgment dated 26 August 2022 has held that the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 will prevail over the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Background
The regime under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”), is largely creditor centric. In fact, extraordinary as it may sound, corporate insolvency resolution process (“CIRP”) under IBC is nothing short of a puppet show, with the Committee of Creditors (“CoC”) as the puppet master. The CoC, comprising of financial creditors of the corporate debtor, is paramount in terms of making the most significant decisions of the process and plays a vital role in resolving the debt.
On 27 July 2022, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Zoom Communications Private Limited v Par Excellence Real Estate Private Limited, Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) No. 619 of 2022 upheld the order of the National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi (NCLT) dated 17 May 2022 dismissing an application to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) on the ground that the debt appeared suspicious and collusive in nature.
Background