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Bhushan Steel's former resolution professional files review petition in SC
The former resolution professional (RP) for debt-laden Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL), Mahender Khandelwal, has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court (SC), which had earlier rejected the resolution plan of JSW Steel and ordered liquidation.
Khandelwal filed the petition on Friday, arguing that the apex court had overlooked certain critical documents and procedural compliances and committed certain 'errors apparent' while recording the judgment.
On the matter of verifying the eligibility of the successful resolution applicant (in this case JSW Steel) under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Khandelwal has claimed that a thorough and independent verification was conducted. A leading third-party consultancy firm was appointed to assess JSW Steel's eligibility, and the findings were shared with the committee of creditors (CoC) of BPSL, with no objections raised.
On 2 May, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment, pointing to 'an entire spectrum of lacunas and flaws' in the resolution plan of JSW Steel regarding non-compliance with mandatory requirements under the IBC. The verdict came four years after JSW Steel had acquired BPSL under the IBC.
The apex court criticised both the RP and the CoC. It held that the RP had failed to discharge his statutory duties under the IBC and the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) regulations. The CoC, it said, had failed to exercise its commercial wisdom and approved a resolution plan that contravened mandatory IBC provisions.
Lenders including the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank have already filed review petitions before the Supreme Court. On 25 June, JSW Steel, too, filed a review petition.
In his plea, Khandelwal contended that the joint shareholding of BPSL and JSW Steel in a joint venture entity had been disclosed in the resolution plan and formed part of the record before the Supreme Court.
He also submitted that the required compliance certificate (Form H) was filed along with the application seeking approval of the resolution plan before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and was part of the court record.
Khandelwal further stated that an appropriate application had been made for the extension of the CIRP period beyond 180 days, and the relief was granted by the NCLT. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), he noted, had directed the exclusion of the time spent on litigation from the computation of the 270-day CIRP period.
Therefore, the resolution plan approval application filed by the RP was submitted before the expiry of the 270-day CIRP period, Khandelwal said.
The Supreme Court is expected to take up the review petition once it resumes after the summer recess on 14 July. JSW Steel is also expected to cite what it claims are factual errors in the original order in its review petition.
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