State Bank of India & Ors. Vs Doha Bank Q.P.S.C. & Anr. (Supreme Court of India)
1. Introduction
In a major boost for consortium lenders and institutional creditors, the Supreme Court of India in State Bank of India & Ors. v. Doha Bank Q.P.S.C. & Anr. (2026 INSC 423) has delivered a powerful verdict safeguarding corporate guarantees.
By setting aside concurrent orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), the Apex Court has sent a clear message: technical, fiscal, or accounting omissions by a Corporate Debtor cannot be used as a “weapon” by rival creditors to defeat legitimate financial claims. This decision provides critical clarity on the intersection between the IBC, the Indian Stamp Act, and accounting disclosures.
2. Factual Matrix
The dispute is another chapter in the insolvency proceedings of the Reliance Communications group, specifically Reliance Infratel Limited (RITL), the Corporate Debtor (CD).
- The Credit Facilities: The SBI-led bank consortium had extended massive rupee loan facilities (~₹6,750 crores) to RITL’s group entities—Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM) and Reliance Telecom Ltd. (RTL). RITL created a security charge via a deed of hypothecation in 2015.
- The Guarantees: On March 3, 2017, following a restructuring of the credit facilities, RITL executed Corporate Guarantees in favor of the Security Trustee (Axis Trustee Services Ltd.) to secure the consortium loans. RITL’s own accounts were subsequently declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) with retrospective effect from August 26, 2016.
- Following the initiation of RITL’s CIRP in 2018, the Security Trustee invoked the guarantees and filed a claim for ₹3,628.67 crores on behalf of the SBI Consortium. Doha Bank, an external commercial borrowing (ECB) lender of RITL, vigorously challenged these claims before the NCLT. Doha Bank alleged that the corporate guarantees were suspicious, fraudulent, insufficiently stamped (under the Maharashtra Stamp Act), and unregistered/undisclosed in RITL’s financial statements for FY 2016-17 and 2017-18.
- Both the NCLT (in 2021) and the NCLAT (in 2022) ruled in favor of Doha Bank, excluding the SBI Consortium from the CoC on grounds of lack of financial statement disclosures, suspicious execution timing, and stamping irregularities. The SBI Consortium appealed to the Supreme Court under Section 62 of the IBC.
3. Key Issues
