The Supreme Court today granted a 'status quo' order in an appeal arising out of a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment, whereby the NCLAT had set aside the resolution plan submitted by Mr. Kalpraj Dharamshi and Ms. Rekha Jhunjhunwala in the insolvency proceedings of Ricoh India Limited, now known a Minosha India Limited, a company engaged in providing IT services.
Earlier, the said resolution plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai (NCLT) by its orders dated 28 November 2019 rejecting the opposition by a competing resolution applicant – Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (Kotak Investment). However, in the appeal filed by Kotak Investment, the NCLAT by its judgment dated 5 August 2020, set aside the said resolution plan on the ground, among others, that the Resolution Professional (RP) could not have accepted the resolution plan after expiry of the deadline for submission of the resolution plan. While doing so, the NCLAT directed the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to take a fresh decision on the resolution plans already submitted within the deadline, which included the resolution plan submitted by Kotak Investment.
Aggrieved by the NCLAT Judgment, the successful resolution applicants - Mr. Kalpraj Dharamshi and Ms. Rekha Jhunjhunwala, the CoC and the RP preferred their respective appeals before the Supreme Court. The appeal of the successful resolution applicants primarily contends that the Process Memorandum itself permitted submission and consideration of a resolution plan at any stage of the insolvency process. In any event, pursuant to the decision of the CoC to consider the said resolution plan, Kotak Investment was also given an opportunity to revise its resolution plan, which was availed by it. Also, the resolution applicants had already implemented their resolution plan by investing around Rs. 300 crore and had stepped into the management and control of Ricoh India since February 2020.
Mr. Kalpraj Dharamshi and Ms. Rekha Jhunjhunwala were represented by Senior Advocates, Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr. Pinaki Mishra, instructed by Karanjawala & Co., through Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja, Ms. Tahira Karanjawala, Mr. Anupm Prakash, Mr. Anmol Jassal and Mr. Utkarsh Maria and Khaitan & Co., through Ms. Kalpana Unadkat, Mr. Prateek Kumar and Ms. Raveena Rai.