JSW Steel seeks review of Supreme Court verdict ordering liquidation of BPSL

JSW Steel has approached the Supreme Court seeking a review of its May 2 judgment, which rejected the resolution plan submitted by the company for Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd. (BPSL) and directed the initiation of liquidation proceedings.

Also Read | NCLT defers hearing on Bhushan Power and Steel case, post SC status quo order on liquidation proceedings

The top court had subsequently, on May 26, ordered status quo in the ongoing liquidation process before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), granting JSW Steel time to file a review petition. The Bench had observed that status quo should prevail “in the interest of justice and to avoid future complications”.

JSW Steel, represented by senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, had argued that the matter was complex and should not be rushed into liquidation. Mr. Kaul had submitted that BPSL had posted an annual turnover of ₹28,000 crore in one year and had increased production capacity from 2.5 to 4.5 metric tonnes. The company, he noted, also employed approximately 25,000 workers.

In its May 2 verdict, the Supreme Court had found JSW’s resolution plan to be in “flagrant violation and contravention” of the law. The Bench had held that the Resolution Professional “had utterly failed to discharge his statutory duties contemplated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) Regulations” throughout the proceedings concerning BPSL.

Invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the court had directed the NCLT to commence liquidation proceedings under the IBC framework.

The court had also criticised the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for approving the resolution plan, observing that the CoC had failed to exercise its commercial wisdom adequately. “The CoC had failed to protect the interest of the creditors by taking contradictory stands before this court, and accepting the payments from JSW without any demurrer, and supporting JSW to implement its ill-motivated plan against the interest of the creditors,” the court had noted.

The CoC, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had also expressed its intention to file a review petition against the May 2 decision.