UK-based Liberty House had moved the NCLT on 26 February against the rejection of its bid for Bhushan Power and Steel by the CoC for late submission. Photo: Reuters
New Delhi: National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday deferred the hearing of Liberty House’s plea seeking a direction to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to consider its resolution plan for the debt-ridden Bhushan Power and Steel to 8 March.
The CoC meeting that was scheduled for 6th March to take the insolvency resolution process forward, has also been deferred to a later date, the tribunal was informed.
UK-based Liberty House had moved the NCLT on 26 February against the rejection of its bid for Bhushan Power and Steel by the CoC for late submission.
The last date for submission of bids was 8th February whereas the Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) for Bhushan Power and Steel Mahender Khandelwal received Liberty House’s proposal on 20th February.
A.S. Chandhiok appearing for Liberty House argued that it was a ‘potential resolution applicant’ after the former’s ‘expression of interest’ was duly received and acknowledged by the IRP. It was further submitted that Liberty House had the requisite financial credentials and strength to bid for Bhushan Power and Steel, and had also submitted the required consolidated financial statements, audit reports and corporate brochure to the IRP.
However, Liberty House was not intimated about the 8th February deadline by the IRP leading to the rejection of the proposal for late submission, Chandhiok submitted.
Chandhiok also submitted that Liberty House was completely unaware of the details and figures in the proposals made by rival bidders in the insolvency process.
On the day of the previous hearing, one of the bidders for Bhushan Power and Steel, Tata Steel represented by Abhishek Manu Singhvi had argued for rejection of Liberty House’s resolution plan as it had submitted it only after learning that Tata Steel’s bid was the highest.
Bhushan Power, which owes at least Rs37,000 crore to a consortium of lenders led by state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), is among the 12 large companies identified by the Reserve Bank of India for early insolvency resolution.
