Essar Steel insolvency case: NCLAT asks NCLT to expedite decision

The Ahmedabad Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has been directed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday to expedite the hearing process on Essar Steel insolvency case in order to arrive at a decision quickly. 

A two-member bench, led by NCLAT Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, asked the Ahmedabad Bench of the NCLT to take a decision expeditiously in the matter following a Supreme Court verdict. 

The appellate tribunal’s direction comes in the wake of Essar Steel’s committee of creditors (CoC) filed an application with the NCLAT, seeking an early decision. Appearing for the CoC, Senior Counsel Gopal Subramanium said that the NCLT adjourned the case twice without giving any reason. 

The Essar Steel insolvency case under the IBC has been running for around 500 days now, against the maximum stipulated time of 270 days. The matter has been listed for the next hearing at the NCLT, Ahmedabad, on January 7. So far, CoC and ArcelorMittal have argued that the insolvent steel maker’s holding firm Essar Steel Asia Holding's (ESAHL) debt settlement proposal was non-maintainable. ESAHL had, however, not only challenged their claims but asserted that as Essar Steel’s shareholder it had a right to redeem the insolvent company.