JUDGMENT :

HIMA KOHLI, J.

1. By this common judgment, we propose to decide both the appeals one filed by M/s. R.K. Industries (Unit-II) LLP (appellant in Civil Appeal No.7722 of 2021 and respondent No.1 in Civil Appeal No.7731 of 2021) and Welspun Steel Resources Private Limited¹[For short ‘Welspun’] (appellant in Civil Appeal No.7731 of 2021 and respondent No.7 in Appeal No.7722/2021) against the judgment dated 10th December, 2021 passed by the Appellate Authority, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi²[For short ‘NCLAT’] in Company Appeal (AT) (Ins.)No.690 of 2021 filed by R.K. Industries under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code , 2016³[For short ‘IBC’], assailing the order dated 16th August, 2021 passed by the Adjudicating Authority, (National Company Law Tribunal, Ahmedabad)⁴[For short ‘NCLT’] in Interlocutory Application No.273 of 2021 (filed by the respondent No.1 -H.R. Commercial Private Limited, in IA No.698 of 2020 (filed by Liquidator) in Company Petition (IB) No.53 of 2017. For the sake of convenience, we propose to refer to the facts narrated in Civil Appeal No.7722 of 2021.

FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The facts of the case necessary to decide the present appeals are as follows.

2.1 Vide Agreement dated 26th February, 2008, Gujarat Maritime Board⁵[For short ‘GMB’] leased out a parcel of land to ABG Shipyard Limited⁶[For short ‘Corporate Debtor’] for a period of thirty years. On 1st August, 2017, ICICI Bank Limited moved an application for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process⁷[For short ‘CIRP’] against the Corporate Debtor under Section 7 of the IBC read with Rule 4 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules⁸[For short ‘IBC Rules’], 2016 before the Adjudicating Authority, NCLT, Ahmedabad [CP(IB) No.53/NCLT/AHM/2017] wherein, Mr. Sundaresh Bhat was appointed as an Interim Resolution Professional⁹[For short ‘IRP’]. As no Resolution Plan was approved during the CIRP, an application was moved by the IRP for initiating liquidation proceedings. Vide order dated 25th April, 2019, the Adjudicating Authority ordered liquidation of the Corporate Debtor and appointed Mr. Sundaresh Bhat as the Liquidator. The respondent No.2 Liquidator made efforts to sell the assets of the Corporate Debtor through an e-auction process, as contemplated in Sections 33 and 35 of the IBC read with Schedule-I of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016¹⁰[For short ‘ Liquidation Regulations ’]. Five e-auctions were conducted by the respondent No.2 Liquidator to sell the consolidated assets of the Corporate Debtor on 17th September, 2019; 27th September, 2019; 22nd October, 2019; 11th November, 2019 and 5th August, 2020. When the first four e-auctions were unsuccess