In a move that could speed up the the closure of Reliance Capital’s (RCap) insolvency process, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has rejected a plea filed by Torrent Group seeking a stay on approval of the debt-laden firm’s resolution plan.
Torrent had earlier moved the tribunal’s Mumbai bench asking it to put the resolution plan submitted by Hinduja Group in “abeyance”.
Now, a final order from NCLT’s Mumbai bench, which has listed the hearing of the Hinduja Group’s bid, later this month for approval, is the only requirement to complete the insolvency process.
The tribunal’s Mumbai bench in its written order said that the interlocutory application (IA) “stands disposed of as rejected”.
Earlier this year, Torrent had moved the tribunal asking it to “order and direct” the resolution plan submitted by Hinduja Group be kept in abeyance till final orders are passed by the Supreme Court in a civil appeal. It also sought the tribunal to order and direct IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), the administrator and the Committee of Creditors (CoC) not to undertake any actions for the conclusion of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).
Later in March, Torrent moved the Supreme Court against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order that permitted holding a second e-auction for the bankruptcy firm.
IIHL is the group company through which the Hindujas had placed bids for assets of debt-laden RCap.
In January this year, NCLT had directed the lenders of RCap not to accept the Hinduja Group’s revised offer till further orders, as it continued to hear the petition since then.
On December 23, the Hinduja Group had revised its bid for RCap with a Net Present Value (NPV) offer of ₹9,000 crore – and offered to provide the entire sum upfront in cash – much above Torrent Group’s highest bid of ₹8,640 crore. The Hinduja Group’s renewed offer, which according to Torrent came after the e-auctions ended and was a “blatant and arbitrary violation” of the challenge process.