Bidder Who Stayed Outside Restored CIRP Lacks Locus To Challenge Approved Resolution Plan: NCLT Kolkata

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Kolkata , has recently held that a bidder who joined the first round of the insolvency process but stayed out of the second, restored round cannot later challenge a resolution plan approved by lenders. A coram of Judicial Member Labh Singh and Technical Member Rekha Kantilal Shah, in an order dated December 3, observed that participation in the restored CIRP process is essential to challenge the same. The tribunal said, “A bidder or applicant who remained outside the restored CIRP process, and did not engage in the CoC's decision-making, lacks the statutory right to object to or challenge the CoC-approved plan.” The company at the heart of the dispute, Incab Industries Ltd, was admitted into insolvency in August 2019 on a petition filed by an operational creditor-Jayanta Banerjee. In December that year, the committee of creditors voted to liquidate the company, and a liquidation order followed in February 2020. An e-auction of Incab's assets was announced in December 2020. During this phase, JVS Comatsco Industries Pvt Ltd took part in the auction through its founder. It deposited Rs. 5.6 crore as earnest money, and emerged as the sole bidder for one of the lots. The liquidator, however, declined to accept the bid in January 2021 and initiated a refund. A few months later, in June 2021, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal set aside the liquidation order and directed that the insolvency process be revived. In the restored insolvency process , a resolution plan submitted by Vedanta Limited to revive Incab Industries was placed before the committee of creditors. The plan, valued at Rs. 545 crore, was approved with 99.37 per cent of the votes on June 23, 2022. JVS Comatsco did not submit any plan during this second round. Nearly three years later, in April 2025, it approached the tribunal saying it was willing to offer a higher amount and sought permission to participate. The tribunal was not persuaded. It said the plan had already reached finality and could not be unsettled at such a late stage. The tribunal noted, “In this case, the applicant was part of the erstwhile liquidation process but was not a participant in the rebooted Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). Therefore, the applicant lacks the necessary legal standing or locus to challenge the CoC-approved resolution plan under the restored CIRP” Finding that the applicant had no right to submit a fresh plan or reopen the process, the tribunal dismissed the application. Case Title: JVS Comatsco Industries Pvt Ltd vs Pankaj Kumar Tibrewal, Committee of Creditors of Incab Industries LtdCase Citation: 2026 LLBiz NCLT (KOL) 2Case Number: I.A. (IB) No. 685/KB/2025 in CP (IB) No. 1684/KB/2018For Applicant: Advocates Saurav Jain, Arundhati Barman RoyClick Here To Read/Download Order

Bidder Who Stayed Outside Restored CIRP Lacks Locus To Challenge Approved Resolution Plan: NCLT Kolkata

Kirit Singhania

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