21 , April , 2022
Union Bank of India has demanded that Supertech Ltd should come up with a settlement plan that entails ''definite upfront payment'' of dues. The bank has made the submissions before NCLAT.
Post NCLT’s insolvency proceeding orders, the promoters of Supertech Ltd had challenged the ruling before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
Previously, the Delhi bench of the NCLT had directed to initiate insolvency proceedings against Supertech Ltd over a petition filed by the Union Bank of India for non-payment of dues amounting to Rs. 432 crore.
But the order has been challenged by R K Arora, director of the suspended board of Supertech Ltd, which is one of the firms of Supertech group.
On Tuesday, during a hearing, the NCLAT extended its stay over the formation of the committee of creditors (CoC) under the insolvency proceedings till 2nd May, after Arora's counsel sought one more chance to give a better proposal to the bank.
Union Bank of India informed that it had received a proposal from Supertech Ltd promoters, but the same was rejected.
''Counsel for the Bank Shri Alok Kumar submits that if some proposal is to be given, there should be definite upfront payment and the payment should not be for such a long duration as has been suggested earlier by the Appellant (Arora),'' the NCLAT order said.
The counsel representing R K Arora informed the appellate tribunal that they are ''under negotiations'' with its financial creditor and had also offered some upfront payment amount along with other terms as has been indicated by the Bank.
Arora's counsel requested for ''one more opportunity'' to enter dialogue with the bank for giving ''some better proposal''.
Accepting the request, a two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan said: ''Considering the submissions, we adjourn this appeal to May 2, 2022''.
''In the meantime, the interim order shall continue,'' said NCLAT.
Earlier, on April 12, the insolvency appellate tribunal had extended the stay till Tuesday after the company had requested for a week's time to enable it to approach the bank for negotiations.
NCLT had also appointed Hitesh Goyal as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) superseding the board of Supertech Ltd.
The default pertains to the loan given by the Union Bank of India to Eco Village II project at Greater Noida (West) in Uttar Pradesh, which was being developed at a cost of Rs 1,106.45 crore.
Supertech Ltd has 38,041 flats and out of them, it has delivered 27,111 flats.
The formation of CoC is an important step for the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under IBC (Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code).
Once NCLT initiates CIRP against a debt-ridden firm, it appoints an Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) after suspending the board of the firm.
Article 18 of IBC mandates that it is the duty of the IRP to constitute the committee based on all the claims received against the corporate debtor and the determination of the financial position of the corporate debtor.
(WITH INPUTS TAKEN FROM PTI)
