Summary
Appeals challenged extension of Jaypee Infratech’s insolvency process and reconsideration of resolution plans after the statutory period. To avoid liquidation and protect stakeholders, particularly home buyers, the Court used Article 142 to allow a final ninety-day process confined to revised plans from the two existing final bidders. It expressly left the legal questions about the tribunals’ powers unanswered.
Issues
- Whether the pending insolvency process should receive exceptional relief to avoid liquidation.
- Whether the order determined NCLT/NCLAT powers to depart from statutory timelines or permitted fresh bidders.
Held
- All stakeholders sought to avoid liquidation. Delay arose from unresolved foundational voting issues and adjudicatory processes rather than blame attributable to creditors. The Court granted exceptional relief under Article 142 while retaining the statutory insolvency framework. (¶¶ 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19)
- The CIRP must conclude within ninety days of the order. During the first forty-five days the IRP could seek revised plans only from Suraksha Realty and NBCC, negotiate if required and report to NCLT; the following forty-five days were reserved for difficulties and adjudication. (¶¶ 19, 21)
- Pending applications and interim directions before NCLT or NCLAT were not to obstruct processing those two revised plans. No fresh expression of interest or plan, including jointly or in concert with another person, was to be entertained. (¶ 21)
- The directions were confined to the exceptional facts and expressly were not precedent. They did not answer the questions of law or recognise a tribunal power to depart from statutory timelines and requirements. (¶¶ 20, 21)
Result
Both appeals and connected applications disposed of without costs. The IRP was directed to complete the JIL CIRP within ninety days, considering revised plans only from the two specified final bidders. Questions of law about NCLT/NCLAT powers were left open.