NCLT Kolkata Admits Application U/S 7 Of IBC Against Jain Infraprojects, Gives Two-Month Settlement Window

The National Company Law Tribunal, bench of Siddharth Mishra (Technical Member) and Bidisha Banerjee (Judicial Member), Kolkata admitted a section 7 petition filed by IDBI Bank against Jain Infraprojects Limited, while granting the Corporate Debtor a two-month window for settlement.The tribunal observed that IDBI Bank had misrepresented the status of the One-Time Settlement before the Tribunal during earlier hearings, which led to matter being prematurely reserved for orders on 3rd April,2025, whereas the OTS was formally rejected at a later date on 15th April,2025. Despite this, the Tribunal admitted the section 7 petition, holding that the dues were “too large to ignore”. It noted that the corporate debtor had shown substantial settlement efforts, by already resolving dues with 7 out of 11 consortium lenders and payments made to IDBI bank under successive OTS agreements. Relying on the decision of the Supreme Court in Vidarbha Industries v. Axis Bank, the tribunal reiterated that admission Section 7 petition is discretionary, not mandatory. It noted that “with time “Vidharbha” affect may have been diluted to some extent, however, till date “Vidharbha” has not yet been overruled. Thus, the tribunal gave the corporate debtor an opportunity to settle dues with IDBI Bank and sought recall of admission order within two months. Background The financial creditor, IDBI bank filed a petition under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 against Jain Infraprojects Limited for a default exceeding ₹1072 crores as of July 1, 2023. However, the Corporate Debtor opposed the petition and filed an application seeking recall of the order dated 3rd April,2025 and seeking dismissal of the section 7 application alleging it to be premature and barred by limitation. The Corporate Debtor claimed that on the last date of hearing the financial creditor claimed the debt to be 1100 crores, however the original debt was 162.44 crores. Also contending that the date of default was misconceived as the Financial Creditor had itself repeatedly entered into one time settlement arrangements with the Corporate Debtor which clearly shows that the original default was no longer treated as subsisting.The Corporate Debtor further contended that out of the repeated OTS arrangements some were accepted and also partly paid by the Corporate Debtor, which demonstrated that the parties came to a fresh understanding. Therefore, the petition cannot now go back and rely on the 2013 default. Case Title: IDBI Bank V/s Jain Infraprojects LimitedCase Number: IA(I.B.C)/999(KB)2025 in CP (IB) No.175(KB)/ 2023Judgement Date: 16.09.2025For Applicant: Mr. Joy Saha, Sr. Adv. ,Mr. Snehasish Chakraborty, Adv.For Corporate Debtor: Mr. Jishnu Saha, Sr. Adv. Ms. Manju Bhuteria, Sr. Adv. ,Mr. Tanay Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Ram Maroo, Adv.Click Here To Read/Download Order

NCLT Kolkata Admits Application U/S 7 Of IBC Against Jain Infraprojects, Gives Two-Month Settlement Window

Mehak Aggarwal

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