SC to hear plea against NCLAT order allowing UltraTech to buy Binani
On Wednesday, a two-member bench of the NCLAT had dismissed an appeal by Rajputana Properties saying that its offer for Binani Cement was discriminatory against some financial creditors
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by Rajputana Properties, owned by Dalmia Bharat Pvt. Ltd, against an order of the bankruptcy appeals court approving UltraTech Cement Ltd’s revised ₹ 7,900 crore bid to acquire debt-laden Binani Cement Ltd on Monday. Rajputana Properties had moved the apex court a day after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) gave a nod to UltraTech, expressing urgency in the matter.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi who said that it would be taken up for hearing on Monday.
On Wednesday, a two-member bench of the NCLAT had dismissed an appeal by Rajputana Properties saying that its offer for Binani Cement was “discriminatory" against some financial creditors.
“The objective of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is resolution (and) the purpose of the resolution is for maximization of the value of assets of the corporate debtor," the tribunal ruled.
At the root of the dispute is a decision by Binani Cement’s committee of creditors to consider an improved bid from UltraTech after Rajputana Properties’ ₹ 6,930 crore bid was declared the highest bidder and filed with the Kolkata bench of the bankruptcy court for its approval.
Rajputana Properties had in July approached the Supreme Court challenging the committee of creditors’ decision to consider UltraTech’s revised proposal, which would entirely pay off all secured and unsecured financial creditors, as well as operational creditors.
The apex court referred the matter to NCLAT.
In its Wednesday order, the NCLAT said that the resolution process under the IBC should consider the interests of even those creditors who are not part of the resolution process, such as operational creditors, while also maintaining the ability of the target company in continuing as a going concern.
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