NCLT notice to Jaiprakash Associates over ICICI Bank claim of Rs 12 bn dues

ICICI Bank filed case after Supreme Court allowed insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash; apex court had also directed transfer of Rs 7.5 bn deposited by the company to NCLT

The Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has issued a notice to Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) in an insolvency case initiated by ICICI Bank. The bank's petition says it is owed Rs 12 billion.

The case was filed after the Supreme Court (SC) allowed insolvency proceedings against JAL. The apex court had also directed the transfer of Rs 7.5 biilion that was deposited by JAL to the NCLT.

ICICI has recommended Price Waterhouse's Raj Ralhan as the interim Resolution Professional for the case.

The Supreme Court had also sent back a case involving JAL's real estate arm, Jaypee Infratech, to the NCLT for resolution. Anuj Jain is the insolvency professional for this case, where the company got a lifeline after completion of its moratorium period of 270 days. ICICI's case was argued by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas' Biswajit Dubey.

JAL, flagship company of the crisis-hit Jaypee group, is into construction, cement, real estate, hospitality and power businesses. It is in talks for selling its cement business, to reduce debt.

The group had taken on a lot of loans to complete its realty projects, impelling buyers to approach the courts for relief. It reported a standalone net loss of Rs 2.85 billion for the first quarter (April-June) of this financial year. A year before for the same peirod, it gas a net profit of about Rs 7.6 billion. Total income declined to Rs 17 billion during the April-June period, from Rs 26 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.