JSW Steel seeks 'open hearing' in BPSL liquidation review plea
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New Delhi: JSW Steel has transformed Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL) into a viable and going concern after acquiring it out of bankruptcy in 2021, and its liquidation would have adverse ramifications on all stakeholders, the Sajjan Jindal-led steelmaker and BPSL's lenders told the Supreme Court They also sought an 'open court' hearing of their petitions seeking a review of the top court's May 2 order scrapping JSW's acquisition of BPSL under the bankruptcy law. While JSW filed the review petition on Wednesday, the lenders that include Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India approached the top court with their plea last week.JSW said it transformed the bankrupt firm's financial health and that its operational capacity has almost doubled to 4.5 million tonnes per annum now from 2.3 MTPA in 2017. BPSL's sales have since increased almost three times to ₹25,973 crore in the last fiscal year ended March 31 and exports have resumed with an annual average of ₹2,976 crore in the last four years, the company said in the review petition.BPSL contributed ₹16,900 crore in taxes to the exchequer since 2021, the petition stated. Also, JSW Steel , which acquired BPSL under a ₹19,350-crore resolution plan, has made a capital investment of ₹5,788 crore in it.In its order on May 2, the top court had termed JSW's resolution plan for BPSL "illegal" and "in gross violation" of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The court had also directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate liquidation proceedings against BPSL. The SC later ordered status quo on the liquidation proceedings, after JSW Steel and the lenders said they would file review petitions.About the allegation in the May verdict that JSW suppressed existence of a joint venture agreement with BSPL on the Rohne Coal block, the company's review petition said it had made due disclosures about it in the resolution plan and even the NCLAT had noted them. Supporting JSW's claims, the lenders said the resolution plan was successfully implemented by March 2021 and that the company had made an upfront payment of ₹19,350 crore.The banks in their review plea said the May 2 judgement suffered from "patent errors" on the face of the record. "...the impugned judgment's observations with respect to the JSW's eligibility under Section 29A being doubtful, not being properly verified by inter alia the CoC (committee of creditors) or not being supported by documents on record constitute an error apparent on the face of the record," the lenders said.
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