NCLT, NCLAT & Insolvency

The National Company Law Tribunal, constituted in 2016, took over the jurisdiction of the Company Law Board, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, and the winding-up jurisdiction of the High Courts. It is now the forum for corporate insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and for the contested work of the Companies Act, 2013.

Appearing there effectively requires a combination that is not common: command of both the Code and the Companies Act, familiarity with how the Tribunal actually runs its board, and current knowledge of a body of jurisprudence that changes faster than any other in Indian commercial law.

The firm has appeared before the NCLT since the Tribunal was constituted. Mr. Shailendra Singh is additionally an Insolvency Professional registered with the IBBI and has held appointment as Interim Resolution Professional and Resolution Professional, including in real estate corporate insolvency resolution processes, and as Liquidator. Insolvency litigation here is therefore approached from the office holder’s statutory position as well as from the litigator’s.

The Code as Amended in 2026

The National Company Law Tribunal, constituted in 2016, took over the jurisdiction of the Company Law Board, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, and the winding-up jurisdiction of the High Courts. It is now the forum for corporate insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and for the contested work of the Companies Act, 2013.

Appearing there effectively requires a combination that is not common: command of both the Code and the Companies Act, familiarity with how the Tribunal actually runs its board, and current knowledge of a body of jurisprudence that changes faster than any other in Indian commercial law.

The firm has appeared before the NCLT since the Tribunal was constituted. Mr. Shailendra Singh is additionally an Insolvency Professional registered with the IBBI and has held appointment as Interim Resolution Professional and Resolution Professional, including in real estate corporate insolvency resolution processes, and as Liquidator. Insolvency litigation here is therefore approached from the office holder’s statutory position as well as from the litigator’s.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 received assent on 6 April 2026 and the bulk of its provisions were brought into force with effect from 26 May 2026. It is the most substantial recasting of the Code since its enactment, and any advice given on the pre-amendment framework is now unsafe. Among the changes that matter most in practice:

  • Admission of financial creditor applications. An application under Section 7 is to be admitted within fourteen days where the statutory conditions are satisfied, curtailing the discretion that had developed at the admission stage
  • A creditor-initiated insolvency resolution process in a new Chapter IV-A, operating on a debtor-in-possession basis, with a timeline of 150 days extendable by a further 45
  • Liquidation restructured — the committee of creditors now supervises the liquidation and appoints the liquidator, and the resolution professional may not also act as liquidator; the process is confined to 180 days extendable by 90
  • Withdrawal under Section 12A permitted only after the committee of creditors is constituted and before the first invitation for resolution plans, with the prescribed committee approval
  • “Security interest” narrowed to rights created by agreement, excluding statutory charges and most government dues — a change of real consequence to the position of revenue authorities in the waterfall
  • Enabling provisions for group insolvency and for cross-border insolvency, and penalties for frivolous proceedings

Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process

We act for financial creditors, operational creditors, corporate debtors, resolution applicants and committees of creditors, at every stage — applications under Sections 7, 9 and 10 and the defence of them; constitution and conduct of the committee of creditors; verification and admission of claims; the invitation, evaluation and approval of resolution plans; and applications arising in the course of the process.

Real Estate Insolvency

The insolvency of a real estate developer raises questions that do not arise in ordinary corporate insolvency. Allottees are financial creditors by virtue of the explanation to Section 5(8)(f). Initiation by allottees is subject to a numerical threshold introduced into Section 7(1) in 2020. The allottees constitute a class of creditors whose authorised representative under Section 21(6A) votes on their behalf, which makes the conduct of that representative and the mechanics of voting decisive. Claims arrive in large numbers in Form CA from a dispersed and often unrepresented body of homebuyers. Project-wise resolution has developed as a practical response to developers with multiple projects at different stages. And the Code has to be operated alongside the RERA regime and the authorities constituted under it.

This is an area where the firm’s experience is direct rather than theoretical, and it informs how these matters are run.

Avoidance Applications

Applications in respect of preferential transactions under Section 43, undervalued transactions under Section 45, extortionate credit transactions under Section 50, and fraudulent or wrongful trading under Section 66 — brought on behalf of resolution professionals and liquidators, and defended on behalf of transferees, promoters and directors. These applications turn on the relevant time, on the identification of related parties, and on the evidential reconstruction of the transaction, and they are frequently the only route to real recovery in a depleted estate.

Liquidation

Advice to creditors on the proof and adjudication of claims, on the operation of the waterfall in Section 53, and on challenges to the decisions of the liquidator; representation in contested liquidation applications and applications for directions; and advice on sale of the corporate debtor or its business as a going concern. Voluntary liquidation under Section 59 is also handled.

Resolution Applicants

Advice to companies and investors submitting resolution plans — eligibility under Section 29A, plan structuring, compliance with Section 30(2), the position on statutory dues and on the immunity conferred by Section 32A, and the consequences where a plan is rejected or is approved with modification. For overseas investors in distressed Indian assets, the Indian law advice is co-ordinated with lawyers qualified in the investor’s jurisdiction.

Companies Act Work

  • Oppression and mismanagement — petitions under Sections 241 to 244, and the wide remedial powers the Tribunal has under Section 242
  • Schemes of arrangement — mergers, demergers and compromises under Sections 230 to 232, including meetings, sanction and objections
  • Restoration — applications under Section 252 to restore a company struck off by the Registrar
  • Winding up on the grounds remaining with the Tribunal after the Code
  • Class actions, and applications for reopening or recasting of accounts

Appeals

An appeal from an order of the NCLT lies to the NCLAT under Section 61 of the Code within thirty days, which the Appellate Tribunal may extend by not more than fifteen days on sufficient cause. From the NCLAT an appeal lies to the Supreme Court under Section 62 on a question of law within forty-five days, extendable by not more than fifteen days. These outer limits are firm, and the period runs from the date the order is made available in accordance with the settled authority on when time begins to run — a point on which appeals are lost with some regularity.

The firm appears at all three levels, so that the appellate case is built on the record created before the Tribunal rather than assembled afterwards.

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What is the minimum default for initiating a corporate insolvency resolution process?

The minimum amount of default specified under the proviso to Section 4 is ₹1 crore, notified in March 2020. The threshold applies to the default, and the notification has been held to operate prospectively.

It can be appealed, on limited grounds. Section 61(3) confines an appeal against an order approving a resolution plan to grounds such as contravention of the provisions of law in force, material irregularity by the resolution professional, non-provision for operational creditors as required, non-provision for the insolvency resolution process costs in priority, or contravention of a criterion specified by the Board. The commercial wisdom of the committee of creditors is not ordinarily open to review.

On admission, the moratorium prohibits the institution or continuation of suits and proceedings against the corporate debtor, transfer or disposal of its assets, enforcement of security interest over them, and recovery of property in the possession of the corporate debtor from a lessor or owner. Its scope has been the subject of considerable litigation — criminal proceedings and the liability of a guarantor have both been held to fall outside it in the circumstances there considered.

Under Section 60(1) the Adjudicating Authority in relation to a personal guarantor to a corporate debtor is the National Company Law Tribunal. Part III of the Code has been notified only to that extent; it has not been brought into force for individuals and partnership firms generally, so the jurisdiction conferred on the Debts Recovery Tribunal by Section 179 is not presently operational for them.

This page is provided for general information about the firm’s areas of practice. It is not legal advice, and no advocate–client relationship arises from reading it or from an enquiry. The law stated is current as at the date of publication and may change.