Essar Steel insolvency: SC paves way for ArcelorMittal to take over debt-laden company for Rs 42,000 cr
The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the 4 July order of the NCLAT approving ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000-crore bid for acquiring debt-laden Essar Steel
-
The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the 4 July order of the NCLAT approving ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000-crore bid for acquiring debt-laden Essar Steel
-
A bench headed by Justice R F Nariman quashed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order which had given financial creditors equal status with operational creditors in the distribution of ArcelorMittal's bid amount
-
The top court also relaxed the timeline of 330 days to find a resolution plan as prescribed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for ArcelorMittal takeover of debt-ridden Essar Steel for Rs 42,000 crore and set aside the 4 July NCLAT order giving equal status to financial creditors and operational creditors.
A bench headed by Justice R F Nariman clarified that financial creditors enjoy primacy over operational creditors and the adjudicating authority cannot interfere with the decision approved by the committee of creditors.
Essar Steel-ArcelorMittal Case: Supreme Court sets aside NCLAT judgmenthttps://t.co/DmhUGgGNmO
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) November 15, 2019
Essar Steel Case | Take a look at exposure of banks to Essar Steel and the amount approved for them by Committee Of Creditors pic.twitter.com/PxfOmyRVeH — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) November 15, 2019
The top court said that the adjudicating authority can send back the resolution plan to the committee of creditors (COC) for implementation in accordance with the guidelines but cannot change the commercial decision taken by the COC.
The bench also relaxed the timeline of 330 days to find a resolution plan as prescribed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The bench said it would be open for the adjudicating authority to maintain the timeline in exceptional cases.
The bench said that the COC resolution plan must balance the interest of all stakeholders.
The apex court had on 22 July ordered status quo in the Essar insolvency case.
The verdict came on a plea of the committee of creditors challenging NCLAT's order of 4 July in which it had approved steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000-crore bid for the acquisition of Essar Steel after it rejected a plea by the lead shareholder of the debt-laden firm challenging the eligibility of the bidder.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had, however, given operational creditors equal status as lenders in the distribution of the ArcelorMittal's bid amount among the creditors of Essar Steel.
Essar Steel was auctioned under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to recover Rs 54,547 crore of unpaid dues of financial lenders and operational creditors.
also read
Nepal: Writ petition filed against PM Prachanda for admitting to 5000 killings during Maoist insurgency
The petition brought by advocate Gyanendra Aran and other victims of Maoist insurgency was registered on Tuesday, Supreme Court sources said, adding that another writ by Kalyan Budhathoki was in the registration process
Supreme Court agrees to hear PIL seeking to declare Ram Sethu national heritage monument
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of the BJP leader who mentioned the matter saying the government has not taken any decision till date
'SCO countries should strive for judicial cooperation to make systems more approachable for common people'
In his concluding address to the 18th meeting of chief justices/chairpersons of the Supreme Courts of the SCO member states hosted by Supreme Court of India, CJI Chandrachud emphasised upon the need to collectively adopt new mechanisms to make court processes simpler and more accessible