In Subhash Chandra case, NCLT constituted a five-judge bench: Payment of only Rs 6.5 crore on claims worth Rs 22,000 crore; Hearing today

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday constituted a five-member bench in the case related to Subhash Chandra's personal insolvency proceedings. This bench will decide on the payment of Rs 6.5 crore. There are claims of more than Rs 22,000 crore in this case. The principal bench of the NCLT will start hearing on Tuesday. The two-member bench could not give a majority verdict on the scheme. The matter was then referred to the chairman of the NCLT for a fresh hearing. This is the first time in the history of the NCLT that a five-member bench has been formed. The bench will be headed by its presiding Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal. The remaining members are Bachu Venkat Balaram Das, Mahendra Khandelwal, Atul Chaturvedi and Ravindra Chaturvedi. The two-member bench had different opinions. Earlier, the two members had different views on the payment scheme in the two-member bench of the NCLT. Therefore, the matter was referred to the third member. The third member approved the payment scheme of Rs 6.5 crore on August 26. Ashok Kumar Bhardwaj, in his order, had said that the scheme would be applicable only to those borrowers who had voted in his favour. Such creditors were about 80.8%. He allowed the disagreeing banks and financial institutions to recover loans separately from Subhash Chandra. His share was about 19.2%. The case was then referred to a two-member bench for issuing a final order based on the majority opinion. This process is required under Section 419(5) of the Companies Act, 2013. The bench said the judicial member had not terminated the original debt of banks, financial institutions and dissenting creditors. However, the third member had terminated the rights of all creditors under Section 115(1) by approving the payment plan. Dissenting creditors approach NCLAT On Monday, the disgruntled creditors of Subhash Chandra approached the NCLAT as a precautionary measure. He appealed against the decision of the third party in which a payment of Rs 6.5 crore was approved against a debt claim of around Rs 22,006.57 crore. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for LIC Housing Finance, presented the case in the NCLAT. The bench also included acting chairman Justice Yogesh Khanna. Mehta sought an urgent hearing of the case. Mehta also argued on behalf of Canara Bank and Union Bank. He said that if the order is implemented, it will destroy the original purpose of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).