NCLAT dismisses insolvency regulator’s plea in GTL Infrastructure CIRP case
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismisses a plea filed by the insolvency regulator — Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) – against an NCLT order that dismissed an insolvency plea against GTL Infrastructure Ltd.
The appellate tribunal dismissed the plea of the insolvency regulator saying that the appellant has nothing to do with the litigation between two parties — Canara Bank (financial creditor) and GTL Infrastructure (Corporate Debtor) — in order to challenge the impugned order by which the petition filed by the Financial Creditor has been dismissed for whatever reasons.
The tribunal observed that the appeal is totally ‘misconceived’ and not maintainable and hence, the same is dismissed.
The IBBI had in its submission said that it is responsible for the enforcement of various rules and regulations concerning the corporate insolvency resolution and amongst others, and that it believed the NCLT order to dismiss insolvency petition was based on an incorrect interpretation of the provisions of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code.
The Mumbai bench of the NCLT had dismissed the insolvency petition filed by Canara Bank against GTL Infrastructure in November 2022. It noted that GTL Infrastructure has monthly revenues of Rs 120 crores (net of GST), which shows that it is a viable going concern. It further noted that the tower company had repaid an amount of Rs 16,915 crores between 2011 to August 2018, which clears that the position of GTL Infrastructure is reasonably healthy and is in a position to repay the sustainable debt.
It further said that GTL Infrastructure has claims aggregating to Rs 13,394 crore against Aircel entities. Further, NCLT has directed to pay Rs 900 crores to the company, and the same has been pending on appeal.
Moreover, GTL Infrastructure has to recover Rs 50 crores from Tata Teleservices Limited; Rs 20.38 crore from ATC and Rs 351 from BSNL in pending arbitration proceedings. The amount received would be sufficient to pay the debt of the petitioner.
The NCLT further said that SC order in the Vidarbha Industries is squarely applicable to the present case as the business of the Corporate Debtor is sustainable and it is a viable going concern under its current management and the overall financial health of the Corporate Debtor is not bad enough to be admitted under CIRP.
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