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Informist, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026

 

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--NCLT constitutes 5-judge bench to hear Zee Ent Chandra's IBC case 
--NCLT 5-judge bench to hear Zee Ent Chandra case 1015 IST Tue 
--CONTEXT: NCLT sought fresh hearing in Zee Ent Chandra IBC case 
--NCLT: Three judges gave 3 different opinions in Zee Ent Chandra IBC case 
--CONTEXT:One NCLT judge had okayed Chandra repay plan for agreeing creditors 
--CONTEXT: One NCLT judge had rejected Chandra repayment plan in IBC case 
--CONTEXT: Tie-breaker judge had approved Chandra plan for all creditors 

 

NEW DELHI – After a deadlock between three members of the Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal to approve an INR 65 million repayment plan submitted by Subhash Chandra, chairman emeritus of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., for admitted claims of INR 220.07 billion, the tribunal Monday formed a five-member bench to hear the case at 1015 IST Tuesday. The bench comprises judicial members Anupinder Singh Grewal, Bachu Venkat Balaram Das, and Mahendra Khandelwal and technical members Atul Chaturvedi and Ravindra Chaturvedi.

 

Three different views were taken by three different members of the tribunal on Chandra's repayment plan in personal guarantor insolvency proceedings. The judicial member of the tribunal, who was hearing the case earlier, had approved Chandra's repayment plan for only assenting creditors, with liberty to banks, financial institutions, and dissenting creditors to recover their debt through debt recovery processes such as debt recovery tribunals. The technical member of the tribunal, who was hearing the case, had rejected Chandra's repayment plan. The tie-breaker judge, to whom the case was sent to resolve the impasse, had approved Chandra's plan for all creditors and extinguished the rights of even dissenting creditors to recover their money through other means.

 

The original division bench of the tribunal said no majority view had emerged in the matter and no order could be passed. As a result, the tribunal gave a fresh reference to its president in terms of the provisions of Section 419(5) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, to resolve the case by taking appropriate action. Noting the division bench's order, the president formed a five-member bench.

 

Earlier in the day, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal had agreed to hear Tuesday LIC Housing Finance Ltd., Canara Bank, Union Bank of India (UK) Ltd., and HDFC Bank Ltd.'s pleas against Chandra's repayment plan. These petitions were filed in the appellate tribunal before the passage of the final order of the Delhi tribunal.

 

In 2022, the tribunal had admitted Sammaan Capital Ltd.'s plea to start insolvency proceedings against Chandra. The company had moved the tribunal against Chandra after a default on a loan of INR 1.70 billion given to Vivek Infracon Pvt. Ltd. Chandra had provided personal guarantees for the loan. 

 

Canara Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and LIC Housing Finance Ltd. had voted against Chandra's repayment plan and sought its rejection by the tribunal. The value proposed under the plan constitutes only 0.028% of the value of Chandra's assets, they said. According to them, as per a 2018 certificate, Chandra's net worth was INR 405.62 billion.

 

The banks which opposed the repayment plan also argued that the votes cast by creditor Veena Investments Pvt. Ltd. and its subsidiaries, Direct Media Distribution Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and World Crest Advisors LLP., ought not to have been considered by Chandra's resolution professional, as these entities fell within the category of associate parties of the personal guarantor. They said the resolution professional had failed to scrutinise the claims and voting rights of certain creditors before taking the plan into consideration for approval.

 

Meanwhile, Chandra had clarified that the total claims against him as personal guarantor, in the personal insolvency proceedings, by objectors of the plan amounted to only INR 39.92 billion and not INR 220.07 billion. Of these, a claim of INR 6.20 billion stood settled and further INR 10.63 billion was offered to be paid by the borrower entities, he said. The borrowing entities for whom Chandra has provided personal guarantees have till date repaid INR 430 billion, he had said. The borrowing entities have assured to settle any other amount which might have been left, he said.

 

Monday, shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ended at INR 93.58 on the National Stock Exchange, down 7.8% from Friday. Shares of HDFC Bank ended at INR 709.00, down 1.6%. Shares of LIC Housing Finance were at INR 538.40, up 0.6%.

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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