The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai on Thursday admitted an insolvency resolution application against NCR Rail Infrastructure (previously Arshiya Rail Infrastructure) and appointed Bhuvan Madan as the resolution professional for the company.
NCR Rail Infrastructure is an affiliate of BSE-listed Arshiya Ltd, which operates free-trade warehousing zones.
Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company had approached the tribunal seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company over a default on payment of Rs 71 crore.
In January 2018, Arshiya Industrial & Distribution Hub Ltd (AIDHL) had entered into an agreement with lenders for a loan facility of Rs 30 crore. AIDHL was merged with NCR Rail Infrastructure in 2019, which led to the transfer of the liability to NCR Rail Infrastructure.
Subsequently, the company defaulted on the repayment and the loan was recalled in July 2019.
Edelweiss ARC, through counsel Rohit Gupta, argued that NCR Rail Infrastructure continued to be in default in repayment of the financial debt.
The ARC sent a default notice on April 18, 2019 and a default-cum-recall notice on July 13, 2019 to NCR Rail Infrastructure. However, the debt remained unpaid, he said.
Countering this, Nausher Kohli, appearing for NCR Rail Infrastructure, argued that the lender filed the application solely for arm-twisting the company, thereby abusing the process of law. He said the claim was also time-barred.
“When we have already found that the application filed by the creditor (Edelweiss ARC) itself is valid; the debt and liability are acknowledged by the corporate debtor (NCR Rail Infrastructure); the date of default and the amount in default exist…there is no need to further consider any other issue raised by the parties,” observed a division bench of the tribunal, comprising judicial member KR Saji Kumar and technical member Sanjiv Dutt.
Lenders such as Kalindee Rail Nirman, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Ltd and Union Bank of India have also filed insolvency resolution applications against NCR Rail Infrastructure. However, since the application is admitted in one case, the lenders will have to submit their claims to the RP now.
Source: Economic Times