BackNCLT gives 90 more days for Ruchi Soya insolvency resolution
Lawyers representing Ruchi Soya's resolution professional approach NCLT, arguing that with the statutory deadline of the first 180 days coming to an end on 12 June, the company needed more time to come up with a resolution plan
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Mumbai: The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has extended the deadline for the resolution process of Ruchi Soya Ltd by 90 days.
Lawyers representing the resolution professional (RP) of the Mumbai-based edible oil maker approached the tribunal on Friday, arguing that with the statutory deadline of the first 180 days coming to an end on 12 June, the company needed more time to come up with the resolution plan.
“We have got the consent from over 96% of the lenders to extend the deadline and we are seeking another 90 days to come up with the resolution plan for the company," argued the lawyers. Law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is representing the RP in the case.
After hearing the plea, the division bench of the tribunal, presided over by B.S.V. Prakash Kumar and Ravikumar Duraisamy allowed the RP to take another 90 days to come up with the resolution plan.
Ruchi Soya was referred to the tribunal by Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank, individually, and both petitions were admitted by the court. It owed over ₹ 5,300 crore to banks at the end of 2016-17. The company owed around ₹ 33 crore to Standard Chartered as of 1 February 2017, and around ₹ 150 crore to DBS Bank as of March 2017. Both the banks had filed separate petitions for the recovery.
The company is part of the so-called second list of 28 defaulters the Reserve Bank of India flagged for resolution under its schemes before December 2017, failing which cases would have had to be filed against these firms at NCLT. The tribunal admitted Ruchi Soya for insolvency resolution process in December.
On 2 December 2017, the Mumbai bench of NCLT had admitted the company for insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd; Godrej Agrovet Ltd; Kolkata-based Emami Agrotech, an edible oil and biodiesel arm of Emami Group; and Adani Wilmar Ltd are in the fray to acquire the assets of the company.
On 5 June, the tribunal had directed ICICI Bank to reverse transactions carried out on Ruchi Soya’s current account, post the commencement of the moratorium and allowed the application filed by the company’s resolution professional.
The resolution professional of Ruchi Soya had moved the Mumbai bench of NCLT against ICICI Bank, seeking the tribunal’s intervention to bring back around ₹ 48 crore that the bank had paid towards a letter of credit from Ruchi Soya’s current account.
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