Want fresh resolution process: BPSL ex-promoters to Supreme Court

SC recalls earlier order liquidating BPSL; promoters call for fresh bidding as legal experts flag rare instance of review under IBC and Article 142 powers

The erstwhile promoters of Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that even though the resolution plan of BPSL was “flawed”, they would rather go for a fresh bidding process. 

“If the plan is flawed, I don’t want to go for liquidation. I want a fresh process. Even in liquidation, the first priority is to sell the company as a growing concern,"  senior advocate Dhruv Mehta, appearing for the erstwhile promoters of BPSL, told the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, and Justice Vinod Chadran.

 

Mehta said that JSW Steel was running BPSL since 2021, employing over 25,000 people and “turning it into a viable company”.

 

To this, CJI Gavai said, “We should also look at the larger picture, 25,000 people cannot be thrown on the road.”

 

The apex court last Thursday recalled its May 2 judgement that declared JSW Steel Limited’s resolution plan for BPSL “illegal” and ordered the latter’s liquidation, four years after the company was acquired under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). 

Case reset 

SC has recalled its May 2 judgment calling JSW Steel’s plan “illegal”

Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta said lenders couldn’t reopen or modify plan once approved

Experts call recall under Article 142 a “rarest of rare” move