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The Supreme Court yesterday declined to interfere in the appeal filed by Shaw Wallace and some of its creditors against the Calcutta High Court judgement setting aside its repayment scheme for creditors. The judges clarified they were neither issuing a notice nor passing a stay order because they were not convinced of the case at the moment. The bench, consisting of Justice B N Kirpal and Justice S Rajendra Babu, heard the appeals for some time but merely adjourned the hearing till Friday so that more documents could be filed.

Counsel for Shaw Wallace argued 80 per cent of the creditors supported the scheme proposed by the company. However, the judges observed the court had no jurisdiction to interfere if the meeting of the creditors had not approved the scheme, as stated in Section 391 from the Companies Act. Only when a scheme is approved does the court comes into the picture under Section 394 of Act to facilitate the reconstruction of the company.

"You have fallen in the first hurdle," the judges told the company.

While some creditors who agreed to the scheme supported the company, Kirloskar Investment & Finance Ltd and Hindustan Development Corporation Ltd, which opposed the scheme and won in the high court have been listed as respondents in the Supreme Court. They were present in the court to oppose the appeals.