NCLAT rejects DoT plea against Rolta resolution plan over ₹469 crore dues

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed the appeal filed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) challenging the resolution plan for debt-ridden Rolta India Ltd, holding that the plan has already been approved and implemented.

The DoT had challenged the resolution plan approved by NCLT while claiming statutory dues of ₹469.09 crore towards unpaid licence fees.

A three-member NCLAT bench upheld the order of the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which on December 15, 2025, approved the ₹900-crore resolution plan submitted by Ashdan Properties for Rolta India, a multinational technology company.

The tribunal observed that Rolta's resolution plan had already been implemented, with the NCLT closing the company petition on February 2, 2026. Moreover, DoT never raised the issue of categorisation of its claims before the NCLT during hearings.

"The resolution process having attained finality and the plan having been acted upon, interference to the order dated 15.12.2025 at this stage, would be inappropriate, and that the sanctity of an approved and implemented resolution plan is not to be disturbed on claims that were not timeously agitated," said the bench comprising Officiating Chairperson Justice Yogesh Khanna along with Members Barun Mitra and Ajai Das Mehrotra.

This was challenged by the DoT, an operational creditor, before the appellate tribunal NCLAT, claiming statutory dues of ₹469.09 crore towards unpaid licence fees linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues for FY2005-06 and FY2006-07. DoT had granted Rolta Internet Service Provider (ISP) license.

However, the resolution professional classified DoT's claim as "not acceptable but contingent" citing an interim stay granted by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

The DoT had argued that the approved resolution plan for Rolta has "unfair treatment" as it allocated only Rs₹10 lakh for government and statutory authorities despite total admitted claims of ₹179.2 crore by the DoT and the Income Tax Department.

It contended that while secured financial creditors were set to receive about ₹808.55 crore and unsecured financial creditors ₹64.2 crore from the ₹ 900-crore resolution plan, government and statutory creditors would receive only a small fraction of their admitted dues, allegedly without adequate consideration of the provisions of Section 30(2)(b) and the waterfall mechanism under Section 53 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

NCLAT said that there is no denial to the fact the DoT was an operational creditor and on August 31, 2023 had filed a cumulative claim amounting to ₹469.09, which have been categorised as "not acceptable but contingent claim" by the Resolution Professional.

However, DoT never challenged this categorisation before the NCLT and instead pursued relief before TDSAT, which disposed of its application in May 2024 without granting any relief and vacating the stay.

Moreover, on February 2, 2026, the resolution Plan was successfully implemented, and the NCLT closed the matter.

"Thus, we find the appellant (DoT) had never challenged the rejection of its claim by the Resolution Professional on September 25, 2023 and even failed to file an appeal against such communication before the NCLT; hence now after the plan is approved and being fully implemented, the appellant cannot raise old issues," said a 7-page-long NCLAT order.

The bench also relied on Supreme Court rulings, which held that no fresh claims can be raised once a resolution plan is approved and successful resolution applicants cannot be saddled with undisclosed liabilities.