Supreme Court restores NCLT order in Kalpraj-KIAL case; upholds CoC decision accepted by a thumping majority of 84.36%.
Upholding the ‘commercial wisdom’ displayed by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in the Kalpraj Dharamshi versus Kotak Investment Advisories Ltd (KIAL) case, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 10th March upheld the decision of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Noting that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) acted in excess of jurisdiction, the apex Court observed that both NCLAT and NCLT cannot overstep CoC’s decision, since the matter doesn’t fall within the limited scope of section 30 and 31 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), thereby dismissing the NCLAT order which was in favour of KIAL.
Earlier, Minosha India Ltd. (formerly Ricoh India Ltd) had appealed against the NCLAT judgment while supporting the conduct of the Resolution Professional (RP) in bringing about a quick insolvency process approved by the majority of CoC.
The resolution plan submitted by a consortium led by Mr. Kalpraj Dharamshi & Mrs. Rekha Jhunjhunwala was approved by NCLT in November 2019, and the implementation had commenced. While the case was being heard and the order was reserved at NCLAT, there was no restraint on the implementation of the resolution plan by Mr. Kalpraj Dharamshi & Mrs. Rekha Jhunjhunwala.
The decision of CoC was accepted by a thumping majority of 84.36%, while dissenting KIAL was favoured by the lone Kotak Bank with only 0.97% voting rights. Subsequently in 2020, Registrar of Companies issued a certificate of the change in name from Ricoh India Ltd. to Minosha India Ltd.
Elated with the judgment, Mr. Atul Thakker, Managing Director of Minosha India Ltd. said, “Truth has prevailed. Our respect and faith in the judicial process has been vindicated. The decision upholds the primary of the commercial wisdom of the CoC. With this judgment, all doubts about our ownership and continuity have been put to rest. Post this Judgement, we will set in motion a course of action to vigorously implement our growth plan.”
