Insolvency and Bankruptcy

JUDGMENT :

Ahsanuddin Amanullah, J.

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The present appeal under Section 62,²[‘62. Appeal to Supreme Court. - (1) Any person aggrieved by an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal to the Supreme Court on a question of law arising out of such order under this Code within forty-five days from the date of receipt of such order.

(2) The Supreme Court may, if it is satisfied that a person was prevented by sufficient cause from filing an appeal within forty-five days, allow the appeal to be filed within a further period not exceeding fifteen days.’] of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the “Code”) is directed against the Judgment dated 19.01.2022 (hereinafter referred to as the “Impugned Judgment”) passed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the “NCLAT”) in Company Appeal (AT)(Ins) No.845 of 2021 which has upheld the order passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law Tribunal,³[The National Company Law Tribunal is a creature of Section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013. Under Section 60 of the Code, it has been designated as the Adjudicating Authority for corporate persons.]) [hereinafter referred to as the “Adjudicating Authority-NCLT” or “Adjudicating Authority” or “NCLT”], Principal Bench dated 01.09.2021 by which the application seeking approval of a Resolution Plan for ACIL Limited (hereinafter referred to as either “ACIL” or the “Corporate Debtor”) being I.A. No.1636 of 2019 in CP(IB) No.170(PB)/2018 (hereinafter referred to as the “Approval Application”) was kept in abeyance while directing the Official Liquidator (hereinafter referred to as the “OL”) to carry out a re-valuation of the assets of the Corporate Debtor and to provide exact figures/value of the assets and exact valuation details.

BRIEF FACTS:

3. ACIL is a manufacturer of precision engineering and automobile components, namely crankshafts for tractors, HCVs, LCVs as well as two-wheelers, as also connecting rods, steering knuckles and hubs. It was the subject-matter of a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (hereinafter referred to as “CIRP”) which was initiated on an application filed by IDBI Bank Ltd. Mr. Ravindra Loonkar was appointed as the Interim Resolution Professional and subsequently confirmed as the Resolution Professional (hereinafter referred to as the “RP”) by the NCLT under order dated 16.10.2018. Against the total claim filed for about Rupees one thousand eight hundred and thirty crores, the amount of admitted claim in the CIRP was Rupees one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two crores.

4. The RP published Expression of Interest on 15.10.2018 which was subsequently revised on 31.10.2018, 28.01.2019 and 13.02.2019. The appellant-Resolution Applicant (hereinafter referred to as the “appellant”) submitted its first Resolution Plan on 11.04.2019 providing to pay Rupees seventy-four crores to all the stakeholders including Rupees sixty-three and a half crores to Financial Creditors (hereinafter referred to as the “FC(s)”). After a series of negotiations, the appellant submitted an Addendum to its Resolution Plan on 21.05.2019 by raising the payment to FC(s) to Rupees seventy-three crores and eighteen lacs. On and at the request of the Committee of Creditors (hereinafter referred to as the “CoC”), once again, the appellant submitted a Revised Plan on 27.05.2019 wherein the total pay-out was Rupees eighty crores and fifty-five lacs and the FC(s) were to be paid Rupees seventy five crores and forty-two lacs. The final Resolution Plan was submitted on 05.08.2019, in which the financial proposal/total pay-out was increased to Rupees one hundred twenty-nine and a half crores and FC(s) were to get upfront payment of Rupees eighty crores and forty-four lacs. This Resolution Plan further provided that proceeds from the monetization of the land situated at Manesar will go to the FC(s).

5. This final Resolution Plan s