Vir Jai Khosla Vs Nemo (NCLAT Delhi)
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Delhi Bench, has rejected an application by Mr. Vir Jai Khosla to video record the proceedings in Company Appeal (AT) (Ins.) No. 642-644 of 2023. Khosla, a shareholder in SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. (SIFL), sought the recording under Rule 11 of the NCLAT Rules, citing allegations of fraud and false affidavits related to the resolution plans of Essar Steel India Ltd. (ESIL) and Odisha Slurry Pipeline Infrastructure Ltd. (OSPIL).
The dispute traces back to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of ESIL, where ArcelorMittal India Pvt. Ltd.’s (AMIPL) resolution plan was approved in March 2019, affirmed by NCLAT in July 2019, and upheld by the Supreme Court on November 15, 2019, in Committee of Creditors Vs Satish Kumar Gupta & Ors. (2020) 8 SCC 531. Similarly, AMIPL’s plan for OSPIL received approvals from the Adjudicating Authority (March 2020), NCLAT (January 2022), and the Supreme Court (November 10, 2022). Both resolution plans have been fully implemented.
The present controversy began with an application (IA No. 832 of 2022) filed before the Adjudicating Authority by M/s Srei Multiple Asset Investment Trust (SMAIT). This application sought to initiate proceedings against various respondents for alleged perjury and false declarations concerning the title of a slurry pipeline, which SMAIT claimed was still disputed in a Civil Court despite being vested with ESIL in the resolution plan. The Adjudicating Authority rejected SMAIT’s application on February 21, 2023, noting that the title dispute was not raised during ESIL’s resolution plan consideration. Significantly, Mr. Vir Jai Khosla was not a party to these proceedings at this stage.
