Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(Online)(NCLT) 8108

NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL
MR. LABH SINGH, MS. REKHA KANTILAL SHAH, JJ
UCO Bank – Appellant
Versus
MAA Ratanti Kalimata ColdStorage Pvt. Ltd. – Respondent
IA (I.B.C)(Plan)/33/2025 | IA(I.B.C) No. 1462/KB/2024 | IA(I.B.C) No. 272/KB/2025 | IA (I.B.C)No. 201/KB/2025 | CP (I.B.C) No.288/2021

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr.Shaunak Mitra,Adv., Ms.Joveria Sabbah,Adv., Ms.Manavii Gupta,Adv., Ms.Sannoyee Chakraborty,Adv.
For the Respondents: Mr. Debashis Karmakar,Adv., Mr.Satyam Ojha,Adv.

The court emphasized that under the IBC, the approved Resolution Plan is binding on all stakeholders and requires strict adherence to statutory provisions to ensure effective corporate revival.

Headnote:(A) Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 - Sections 30(6) and 31 - Approval of Resolution Plan for Corporate Debtor - Resolution Plan submitted by consortium was approved post negotiation by Committee of Creditors, ensuring compliance with regulatory provisions. (Paras 2, 4, 5, 11, 14-16)

(B) Corporate Debtor - Corporate Debtor entered into CIRP post admission of petition by UCO Bank - Procedural compliance including advertisement for Expression of Interest and evaluation reflected adherence to IBC and its Regulations, despite multiple applications considered infructuous. (Paras 1-3, 11-12)

Facts of the case:
UCO Bank initiated CIRP against the Corporate Debtor; the Resolution Professional submitted the Plan approved unanimously by the Committee of Creditors; the resolution plan included upfront payments and a monitoring process for implementation.

Findings of Court:
The approved Resolution Plan is binding on the Corporate Debtor and stakeholders, allowing for immediate revival.

Issues: Whether the Resolution Plan met the necessary legal compliances; the role of the Committee of Creditors in evaluating the Plan.

Ratio Decidendi: The court upheld the importance of adhering to the IBC legislative framework, emphasizing that the Resolution Plan must comply with statutory requirements while being commercially viable, and that all past liabilities would extinguish post-approval.

Result: Resolution Plan approved.

Table of Content
1. approval of resolution plan under ibc code (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. process of inviting and evaluating resolution plans (Para 5 , 6)
3. legal principles regarding extinguishment of claims (Para 11 , 12)
4. resolution plan binding nature and compliance (Para 13 , 14)
5. final order approving the resolution plan (Para 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20)

ORDER

LABH SINGH, JUDICIAL MEMBER

1. The present interlocutory application bearing IA (IBC) (Plan) No. 33KB/2025 was filed on 02.11.2025 by CA Shantnu Brahma Resolution Professional ( for short ‘RP’) of Maa Ratanti Kalimata Cold Storage Pvt. Ltd, the Corporate Debtor ( for short ‘CD’) under the provisions of Sections 30 (6) and section 31 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (for short ‘IBC Code) read with Regulation 39(4) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016 (for short ‘IBBI (CIRP) Regulation 2016’) for approval of the Resolution Plan submitted by the consortium of Nabadurga Agro Private Limited and M/s Baba Ganesh Traders, the Successful Resolution Applicant (SRA), as approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) with 100% vote.

2. Brief facts about Corporate Debtor and CIRP:

2.1 The underlying Company Petition being CP (IB) No. 288/2021 was filed by UCO Bank under section 7 of the IBC Code 2016 against the Corporate Debtor Maa Ratanti Kalimata Cold Storage Pvt. Ltd and the Corporate Debtor was admitted in Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (for short ‘CIRP process’) by this Tribunal vide order dated 25.01.2024.

2.2 Initially, Mr. Samya Sengupta was appointed as the Interim Resolution Professional. This Tribunal, later on, appointed the applicant, Mr. Shantnu Brahma, as Interim Resolution Professional of the Corporate Debtor vide order dated 27.06.2024 replacing erstwhile Interim Resolution Professional Mr. Samya Sengupta who was confirmed as Resolution Professional in 1^st CoC meeting held on 24.07.2024.

3. Collation of Claims, Constitution of CoC, and Valuation:

3.1 The erstwhile applicant made public announcement on 05.07.2024 in “The Indian Express” (English Edition) and “Aajkal” (Bengali Edition) newspapers having wide circulation in the State of West Bengal regarding initiation of CIRP process and called proof of claims from the financial and operational creditors, workers and employees of the Company in the specified forms till 17.07.2024.

3.2 The CoC was constituted with sole Member, UCO Bank being the Secured Financial Creditor with 100% voting right in the CoC.

3.3 The applicant states that a total of twenty one (21) meetings have been held during CIRP period, on the following dates:

3.4 Registered Valuers, namely Mr. Tarik Anowar and Mr. Pritam Nag were appointed valuer for valuation of land and building; Mr. Asim Maity and Mr. Ananya Mukhopadhyay were appointed valuer for valuation of Plant and Machinery; and Mrs. Madhumita Karar and Mr. Pijush Karmakar were appointed as valuer for valuation of Securities & Financial Assets as resolved. It has been submitted that the COC has considered the Resolution Plan, keeping in view the Valuation Reports submitted by the Registered Valuers, named above. The summary of the Fair Value and Liquidation Value of the Corporate Debtor are as under:

Copy of the Valuation Reports has been annexed with the Application for approval of Resolution Plan as Annexure “A- 23”, “A-24”, “A-25”, “A-26”, “A-27” and “A-28”

3.5 Valuation of the Corporate Debtor, as further provided in Form “H”, is as follows:

Fair Value (INR Lakh) 1829.22 Liquidation Value (INR Lakh) 1351.57

3. Invitation for Resolution Plan, Evaluation a0nd Voting:

4.1.The Applicant submits that in terms of the provisions of Section 25 (2)(h) of the IBC Code 2016 read with Regulation 36A (1) of the IBBI (CIRP) Regulations 2016, invitations of Form ‘G’ for Expressions of Interest (for short “EoI”) from potential resolution applicants were issued. The Form ‘G’ was published on 01.09.2024, for submission o