ICICI Bank Ltd has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings of Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd to include its claim of around $75 million (Rs486 crore).
The bank claimed that the interim resolution professional (IRP) had not included its claim, which was actually a corporate guarantee given by Monnet Ispat in favour of a subsidiary.
Monnet Ispat is part of the first lot of 12 large non-performing loans referred by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for early resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) last year.
“We had given a loan to Monnet Power Co. Ltd where the parent company, Monnet Ispat, was corporate guarantor. However, the company defaulted on the payment. The corporate guarantee was invoked after the filing of the bankruptcy and, hence, the resolution professional is not including this claim under the category of financial creditor,” said Gaurav Joshi, senior counsel representing the bank in the dispute.
After hearing arguments, the division bench of B.S.V. Prakash Kumar and Ravi Kumar Duraisamy directed the IRP to explain why the claim of ICICI Bank had not been included in the list of claims, and also directed the creditors’ panel not to meet until further notice.
The tribunal has posted the hearing for 3 April.
The bank further argued that as the statutory time limit of 270 days was coming to an end on 13 April for the company, its claim needed to be included.
An email to ICICI Bank remained unanswered till the time of filing the story.
Monnet Ispat owes lenders Rs10,000 crore and the committee of creditors (CoC) has agreed to take a haircut of around 72% to settle the loan.
So far, a consortium of AION Capital Partners Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd has made a binding offer for Monnet Ispat and is considered to be the front runner to acquire the asset.
AION Capital holds a 70% stake in the consortium while JSW Steel holds the rest.
Source: Mint