New Delhi/Mumbai: An Indian appeals court that ordered the surprise reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of the nation’s largest conglomerate, has seen most of its high-profile decisions this year modified by the Supreme Court.
Six of the eight big cases decided in 2019 by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal have been reversed or modified by the nation’s highest court, a larger proportion than previous years. This has decided the fate of several companies such as tycoon Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd. and big-ticket insolvencies including that of Essar Steel India Ltd.
| Case | NCLAT Order | Supreme Court Order | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaypee Infratech Ltd.
(insolvency) |
Invite fresh bids for Jaypee | Put NCLAT order on hold, and allowed revised resolution plan only from two companies | |
| Essar Steel
(insolvency) |
Placed operational creditors on par with financial creditors | Said the two kinds of creditors cannot be placed on par | |
| Jignesh Shah case | Allowed winding up petition by IL&FS against Shah’s La-Fin Financial Services Ltd. | Overturned NCLAT ruling. Said winding up petition was filed with delay | |
| Amtek Auto Ltd.
(insolvency) |
Ordered liquidation of company | Ordered fresh bidding for the company’s takeover | |
| Reliance Communications | Stayed insolvency against Reliance Communications | Ruled that Ambani was in contempt of court and ordered him to pay up his dues, which he did | |
| Swiss Ribbons
(insolvency) |
|
Upheld law barring promoters of bankrupt company from fresh bidding | |
| Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Ltd.
(insolvency) |
Held home buyers on par with financial creditors | Upheld home buyers as financial creditors | |
| Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd.
(insolvency) |
Ordered confidential documents can’t be shared with former founders who attended creditor meetings | Allowed critical documents such as resolution plans to be shared with former founders |
Tata Sons, in a statement following the unfavorable NCLAT verdict, said it “strongly believes in the strength of its case and will take appropriate legal recourse.”
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Also read: NCLAT ruling threatens to dent legacy of Ratan Tata, India’s legendary dealmaker
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S C is final arbiter. That never means NCLAT or any lower courts are wrong.