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2025 Supreme(Online)(NCLT) 390
NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL
Ms. Lakshmi Gurung, Member (Judicial), Sh. Charanjeet Singh Gulati, Technical
CA Kshitiz Gupta – Appellant
Versus
Shri Karvir Nivasini Mahalaxmi Ispat Private Limited – Respondent
I.A. 5666/2024 | C.P. No. (IB) 1499/MB/C-III/2017
For the Liquidator: Adv. Pulkit Sharma, Adv. Naveli Reshamwalla, Adv. Princi Jaiswal, i/b Dhir and Dhir Associates
The court affirmed the closure of liquidation proceedings after successful sale of corporate debtor, emphasizing compliance with provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Headnote:(A) Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 - Regulation 45(3)(a) - Closure of liquidation proceedings - The application filed by the Liquidator seeking closure of the liquidation process as a going concern was allowed after the successful sale of Corporate Debtor to the bidder. (Paras 46, 47)
(B) Liquidation Process - Compliance and Reporting - Liquidator required to provide final report and compliance certification to close the liquidation process in accordance with the statutory provisions. (Paras 36, 40, 42)
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. liquidation process initiated and timeline for claims (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9) |
| 2. auction process and delays due to litigation (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18) |
| 3. sale process resolution and bidder selection (Para 19 , 20 , 21 , 22) |
| 4. distribution of sale proceeds according to the waterfall mechanism (Para 26 , 27 , 28 , 29) |
| 5. compliance with reporting requirements for liquidation (Para 30 , 31 , 32) |
| 6. final report and closure directives issued by the tribunal (Para 33 , 34 , 35) |
ORDER
1. This I.A. is filed by CA Kshitiz Gupta, the Liquidator of Abhishek Corporation Limited (Corporate Debtor) under Regulation 45(3)(a) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 (IBBI Liquidation Regulations) seeking following reliefs:
a. To allow the present application filed with respect to closure of the liquidation process period of the Corporate Debtor as a going concern;
b. To take on record Final Report in compliance with Regulation 45(3) of the Liquidation Regulations;
c. To take on record compliance certificate in Form-H in compliance of Regulation 45(3) of the Liquidation Regulations, 2016;
d. Pending the final hearing and disposal of the present application, this Tribunal to exempt the Liquidator from filing any further progress reports on the quarterly basis in terms of the Regulation 15 of the Liquidation Regulation; and e. Pass any other/further order(s) as this Tribunal may deem fit and appropriate in the facts of the present case.
Commencement of CIRP
2. This Tribunal vide order dated 17.11.2017 in CP(IB)/1499/2017 initiated Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Abhishek Corporation Limited (Corporate Debtor) and Mr. Sandeep Singhal was appointed as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP). Subsequently, Mr. Sameer Kakar was appointed as the RP vide order dated 08.03.2018.
Initiation of Liquidation Process
3. In absence of any resolution plan approved by CoC, the RP filed MA no. 887/2018 seeking liquidation of the Corporate Debtor. The Tribunal vide order dated 11.03.2019 passed order for liquidation of the Corporate Debtor and Mr. Ashish Mukund Chandak was appointed as the Liquidator. As Mr. Chandak failed to take charge of the Corporate Debtor, consequently, CA Kshitiz Gupta (Applicant) was appointed as the Liquidator of the Corporate Debtor vide order dated 02.04.2019.
4. Pursuant thereto, the Applicant/Liquidator made public announcement on 13.04.2019 in Form B of Schedule 2 of the IBBI (liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016, thereby inviting claims from the stakeholders to submit their claims on or before 08.05.2019. The public announcement was made in the following newspapers:
i) Financial Express (English)
ii) Navshakti (Marathi)
Appeal against the Liquidation Order
5. An appeal bearing no. Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No. 241/2019 was filed by one M/s ManiBhadra Polycot challenging the liquidation order dated 11.03.2019. The said appeal was allowed by Hon’ble NCLAT vide order dated 01.05.2019. Thus, the custody and control of the Corporate Debtor went back to the erstwhile RP.
6. Aggrieved by the same, State Bank of India, one of the financial creditors of the Corporate Debtor, filed Civil Appeal Nos. 4392-4393 of 2019 before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The Civil Appeal was allowed by Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 09.08.2019 and Liquidation process of the Corporate Debtor was reinstated. Subsequently, the Applicant resumed charge as the Liquidator of the Corporate Debtor from 21.08.2019.
List of Stakeholders
7. The Applicant/Liquidator once again made a public announcement on 21.08.2019 by way of an addendum to Form B initially published on 13.04.2019 and the last date for submission of claims was fixed as 05.09.2021.
8. The Liquidator prepared the list of stakeholders and constituted the Stakeholders Committee (SCC) in accordance with Regulation 31A of the IBBI (liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016. The list of stakeholde
