New Delhi– The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the timeline for the resolution of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) by another 45 days and directed the interim resolution professional to invite fresh bids from NBCC and Suraksha Realty.
“The matter regarding approval of the resolution plan stands remitted to the Committee of Creditors of JIL and the time for completion of the process relating to CIRP of JIL is extended by another period of 45 days, from the date of this judgement,” the court said in its order.
Directing the IRP to complete the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) within the extended time, the three-judge bench said that it will be open to the IRP to invite modified or fresh resolution plans only from Suraksha Realty and NBCC, giving them time to submit the same within the next 2 weeks.
The bench said that after receiving the resolution plans, the IRP shall take all further steps in the manner that the processes of voting by the Committee of Creditors and the submission of report to the adjudicating authority (NCLT) are accomplished in all respects within the extended period of 45 days from the date of this judgment.
The adjudicating authority shall take final decision in terms of Section 31 of the Code expeditiously upon submission of the report by the IRP, it said.
“These directions, particularly for enlargement of time to complete the process of CIRP, are being issued in exceptional circumstances of the present case and shall not be treated as a precedent,” it said.
In a setback for NBCC, the apex court also said the Rs 750 crore deposited by Jaypee Associates would not go to JIL and that NBCC would not be allowed to utilise it for construction.
The Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on October 8, 2020 over a batch of petitions and appeals filed in the matter.
The apex court, in August last year transferred to itself the appeals pending before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the NBCC plan to acquire debt-ridden JIL and construct over 20,000 pending flats.
It had said then that all appeals before the NCLAT and the apex court would be heard together.
After a long-drawn resolution process, the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) principal bench in March last year okayed public sector major NBCC’s resolution plan to acquire JIL.
The tribunal modified the resolution plan and said that the Rs 750 crore deposited by Jaiprakash Associates at the Supreme Court would be part of the resolution plan. Now, the Supreme Court has nullified that ruling.
Jaypee Associates, the promoter group of JIL, sought back the Rs 750 crore it submitted in the Supreme Court. NBCC had opposed it, saying the amount is an integral part of its resolution plan for acquisition and completion of the projects of JIL. Both the bidders, NBCC and Mumbai-based Suraksha Realty, had included the Rs 750 crore in their resolution plans.
In December 2019, NBCC’s resolution plan received 97.36 per cent votes of the Committee of Creditors (CoC), with majority of the home buyers and the major banks voting in favour of the bid. NBCC’s plan received overwhelming support against the required 66 per cent votes for approval. The other bidder in the fray, Suraksha Realty, received 2.12 per cent votes.
This was the third time that the bids of both the companies have been put to vote. Post Wednesday’s order, the voting is likely to take place for the fourth time in the much stretched resolution process. (IANS)
