New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought the Centre’s reply on a plea challenging the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Ordinance which suspended proceedings against defaults arising on or after March 25 for six months in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the Ministry of Law and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) seeking its stand by August 31 on the plea which seeks setting aside of the amendment made in the IBC by the ordinance
Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan, appearing for the ministry, opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable.
Mahajan said the petitioner — Rajeev Suri — has been unable to show his locus for filing the instant PIL.
Rajeev Suri, in the petition filed through advocates Shiv Kumar Suri and Shikhil Suri, has contended that the ordinance suspending the initiation of insolvency resolution process under IBC was “irrational, arbitrary, unjust, and mala fide” as it deprives a corporate applicant of its statutory rights.
“In these extraordinarily difficult times for businesses, suspension of section 10 of IBC (which provides for initiation of insolvency proceedings) was irrational, displays haste, is illogical, and unjustified,” the petition said.
It claimed that suspension of section 10 of IBC will push the companies towards liquidation, discourage entrepreneurship and defeat the objectives of the Code.
The petition has contended that the ordinance “should be struck down” as its is “manifestly arbitrary” and violates the right of equality under the Constitution.
According to the IBC Ordinance issued on June 5, default on repayments from March 25, the day when the nationwide lockdown began to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, would not be considered for initiating insolvency proceedings for a certain period of time.
Insolvency proceedings would not be initiated for “any default arising on or after March 25, 2020 for a period of six months or such further period, not exceeding one year from such date, as may be notified in this behalf”, the ordinance has said.
Under the IBC, an entity can seek insolvency proceedings against a company even if the default is only for one day. This is subject to the minimum threshold of Rs 1 crore. Earlier, the threshold was Rs 1 lakh.
Also read: Threat calls made, Delhi Police says in plea to cancel bail of school owner in riots case