Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Adani's Resolution Plan For Jaiprakash Associates; Urges NCLAT To Hear Vedanta's Appeal On Priority

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) which refused to accept the plea of Vedanta Ltd to stay the implementation of Adani Enterprises' resolution plan for Jaiprakash Associates Ltd.

The Court declined interference noting that the NCLAT has posted Vedanta's appeal for hearing on April 10. The Court however requested the NCLAT to hear Vedanta's appeal out of turn on April 10 itself or on the next immediate working day if arguments do not conclude.

The Court further observed that if the monitoring committee needs to take any major policy decision, it must first take the leave of the NCLAT.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, at the outset itself, expressed reluctance to interfere, pointing out that it was only an interim order passed by the NCLAT.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, for Vedanta, submitted that he is not seeking an interference by the Court, and wanted only a direction to ensure that Vedanta's appeal against the resolution plan will be heard on April 10th itself. Sibal added that his client's offer was ₹17,926.21 crore, whereas the other bidder, Adani, was offering about ₹14,000 crore. He contended that under his proposal, creditors would receive a higher amount and that, in terms of both net present value and total consideration, his bid was the highest. He argued that despite this, the Committee of Creditors were willing to hand over Jaypee to Adani for nearly ₹3,000 crore less.

Sibal submitted that if the resolution plan is implemented, Jaypee will be delisted.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the CoC, submitted that the difference was Rs 500 crores. Addressing Sibal's concerns about the de-listing of the corporate debtor, the SG said that it will take at least 50 days to implement the resolution plan.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Adani, submitted that there was no substantive challenge by Vedanta to the resolution plan.  Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the RP, submitted that Vedanta made the offer when the process was frozen, and alleged that there was a leak of the previous offer. The bench said that it will not go into the merits of the allegations.

Background

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, which operates in the construction, cement and hospitality sectors, was admitted into insolvency in June 2024 on a petition filed by ICICI Bank after prolonged financial stress despite multiple asset sales. The corporate insolvency resolution process was then initiated.

During the CIRP, Vedanta submitted a bid of about Rs 17,000 crore. However, the Committee of Creditors approved the resolution plan of Adani Enterprises valued at about Rs 15,000 crore, citing stronger upfront payment terms despite the lower total value. The plan received a 93.81% vote of the CoC and was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal on March 17, 2026.

Vedanta has challenged this outcome on the ground that its higher bid was not considered properly, breaching the value maximisation objective under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Before the NCLAT, Vedanta argued that it had offered a higher net asset value of about Rs 12,505.85 crore and that its addendum dated November 8, 2025 was wrongly disregarded by the CoC. It sought interim relief to restrain implementation of the resolution plan.

On March 24, 2026, the NCLAT declined to grant interim relief and permitted implementation of the plan to proceed, while stating that it would remain subject to the outcome of the appeal. Vedanta has now challenged this refusal before the Supreme Court.

Case no. – C.A. No. 4098-4099/2026

Case Title – Vedanta Limited v. Bhuvan Madan and Ors.