NCLAT Opens The Door For Fresh Bids For Jaypee Infratech
The terms and conditions have to be submitted by the committee of creditors before Friday, the bench said.
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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has asked the lenders to Jaypee Infratech Ltd. to submit the terms and conditions for bidders in the resolution process of the debt-laden company.
The terms and conditions have to be submitted by the committee of creditors before Friday, the bench headed by Justice SJ Mukhopadhayay said. It will then pass further directions. The interest of the homebuyers, the tribunal said, will have to be protected by the resolution applicant.
The court’s directive may open the door for fresh bid for Jaypee Infratech, including one from the Adani Group whose resolution plan has not been considered by the CoC so far.
The CoC had rejected the two bids it has received so far, including one from government-owned NBCC (India) Ltd., which had raised the prospects of liquidation of the company.
Earlier this month, the appellate tribunal had directed the representatives of lenders, allottees and other stakeholders in Jaypee Infratech to appear before it on July 17 after banks rejected NBCC’s bid.
This insolvency process has been going on for more than two years now. The company was one of the 12 large corporate accounts shortlisted by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2017 for insolvency proceedings. In October last year, the Supreme Court restarted the process after the homebuyers moved the court seeking a direction to protect their interests in the resolution process.
The 180-day deadline mandated in the bankruptcy law expired in May this year and another 90-day extension will be over on July 29. After the expiry of the 270-day deadline, a company has to mandatorily go into liquidation, as per the provisions of the insolvency code.
The homebuyers and the committee of creditors, however, urged the appellate tribunal to extend the 270-day deadline by excluding the period that went into litigation.
Meanwhile, the advocate for Adani Group—one of the interested bidders—informed the court that it wants to submit an improved bid for the Jaypee Infratech. Earlier, the Justice Mukhopadhayay-headed bench had said it was not keen to consider Adani Group’s bid as it has no experience in construction.
The next date of hearing is on July 22.