The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai bench recently admitted a plea filed by the State Bank of India, seeking to intiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against a suburban Malad based firm - Bilpower Limited, for defaulting to repay over Rs 400 crore.
According to the SBI, it had sanctioned credits worth Rs 290 crores along with 18 per cent rate of interest to the firm from 2005 till 2013. However, the firm defaulted in repaying the amounts.
Accordingly, to recover the money, SBI filed appropriate proceedings before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT). The DRT had passed interim orders on SBI's plea, however, the firm didn't repay the amounts.
SBI's plea was adjudicated by bench of H V Subha Rao and Chandra Bhan Singh, the judicial and technical members of the NCLT.
Before the NCLT, the firm argued that as per law, the SBI should have filed the proceedings within three years of the amounts sanctioned, i.e. till 2017. However, it filed the proceedings before the NCLT in 2019, which is delayed by over two years and barred from law of limitation.
"It is appropriate to mention here that the Corporate Debtor (firm) is neither disputing the debt nor default in this case. The debt is within limitation," the bench said, adding, "When once the debt and default are established and the debt is observed to be within limitation, the Adjudicating Authority has left no option except to admit the phone filed by the SBI."
The bench noted that SBI had proposed the name of Anuj Bajpai, to be the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP). "Thus, the present Company Petition satisfies all the necessary requirement for admission. In view of this, this tribunal is of the considered opinion that the company petition is liable to be admitted," the bench held.
