Indian Bank Vs Anjanee Kumar Lakhotia (NCLAT Delhi)
In a significant ruling, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), New Delhi Bench, has dismissed an appeal filed by Indian Bank, challenging an order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that rejected an insolvency application against a personal guarantor. The case, Indian Bank vs. Anjanee Kumar Lakhotia, centered on the interplay between an approved resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the liability of a personal guarantor who was also the resolution applicant.
The dispute originated from financial facilities extended by a consortium of banks, led by State Bank of Mysore (now Indian Bank), to M/s MBL Infrastructure Limited in 2010. Anjanee Kumar Lakhotia, the suspended director of MBL Infrastructure, had executed a deed of guarantee in February 2016. After the corporate debtor’s accounts were declared Non-Performing Assets (NPA) in December 2016, and subsequently admitted into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in March 2017, Lakhotia submitted a resolution plan. This plan was approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) with a 78.50% vote share and subsequently by the NCLT, Kolkata, in April 2018. The approval of this resolution plan was further upheld by the NCLAT and ultimately by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in January 2022.
