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Judgment
ORDER
The Company Petition CP IB-97/ND/2022 was heard by the division bench (Court-II, NCLT, New Delhi) comprising Sh. Ashok Kumar Bhardwaj, Member (Judicial) and Smt. Reena Sinha Puri, Member (Technical) and dissenting judgments were delivered on 03.09.2025
In view of the difference of opinion between the two members, the matter was placed before the then President, NCLT Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar on 25.09.2025. The then President, NCLT referred the difference of opinion to a third member Sh. Nilesh Sharma, Member (Judicial), NCLT Mumbai Bench on 05.02.2026.
The matter was first heard by the third member on 20.02.2026 and thereafter, it was heard on several other occasions. The third Member’s judgment was pronounced on 25.08.2026.
The order dated 25.08.2026 was placed before the concerned bench on 31.08.2026 for drawing the consequential order. The concerned bench was constituted on 31.08.2026. The Bench held that no majority view has emerged and reference was made to the President, NCLT. The operative part of the order is reproduced hereunder: -
“All said and done, no majority view has emerged in the matter. In the wake, no order can be passed at this stage. Resultantly, we have no option but to make fresh reference to Hon’ble President in terms of the provisions of Section 419(5) of the Code.”
In view of the above, President, NCLT constituted this Special Bench of five Members on 31.08.2026 to consider the issue.
A perusal of the orders of the three Members indicates that Sh. Ashok Kumar Bhardwaj, Member (Judicial) has approved the repayment plan and observed that the dissenting financial creditors having participated in the voting process can resort to the remedies available to them under the law for recovery of their remaining debt.
However, Ms. Reena Sinha Puri Member (Technical) has rejected the repayment plan by holding that there were various irregularities in the process including those relating to the admission of claims and voting.
The Third Member Sh. Nilesh Sharma, Member (Judicial), NCLT Mumbai Bench to whom the matter was referred after the difference of opinion, upon consideration of the matter, vide order dated 25.08.2026, has approved the Repayment Plan. However, he has qualified his approval by directing exclusion of the claims submitted through Mr. Anil Kumar on behalf of 960 individuals and Mr. Sunil Jain on behalf of 300 individuals from the final list of creditors and consequential redistribution of the amount allocated to them amongst the remaining eligible creditors. He has also held that the approved Repayment Plan will be binding upon all the creditors, whether assenting or dissenting to the Repayment Plan, in accordance with Section 115 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and shall have all consequences contemplated under the Code. The Third member has thus clearly differed from the view taken by Member (Judicial) Sh. Ashok Kumar Bhardwaj on this issue.
It is manifest that as per Section 419 (5) of the Companies Act, 2013, there is no clear majority view capable of being given effect to, therefore, the order dated 25.08.2026 of the third member Sh. Nilesh Sharma, Member (Judicial) is stayed. We also direct that the personal guarantor shall not alienate any assets whatsoever either directly or indirectly. Let notice be issued to the parties in all the IAs. Reply, if any, may be filed before the next date of hearing. List on 23.09.2026 at 10:00 AM.