Authority: National Company Law Tribunal Division Bench (Court-I) Chennai
Order Date: 09 June 2026
Case Overview
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Chennai Division Bench comprising Hon'ble Shri Sanjiv Jain (Member Judicial) and Hon'ble Shri Venkataraman Subramaniam (Member Technical) heard application IA(IBC)/929(CHE)2026 in the matter of Airpack Gases versus Chowel India Pvt Ltd (Main Petition Number: CP(IBC)/1121/CHE/2019). The application was presented by Mr. T. Jayashankar (Counsel for Applicant) and Mr. A.G. Sathyanarayana (Counsel for Liquidator).
The application sought multiple reliefs including: impleading the applicant as party respondent in related proceedings; permission to represent employees in liquidation distribution; disclosure of complete employee claim details (admitted/rejected amounts, valuation reports, auction documents, SCC proceedings, bid documents, comparative bid analysis, distribution mechanism); injunction against transferring employee dues to Corporate Liquidation Account pending dispute resolution; fresh verification of employee claims with opportunity for all employees; declaration that inclusion of Mr. I. Muthukumar as employee representative in Stakeholders' Consultation Committee without consent was illegal under Regulation 31A of IBBI (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016; examination of valuation, reserve price fixation, e-auction process and sale legality; potential setting aside of the sale if found undervalued or illegal; and investigation by IBBI into Liquidator's conduct regarding employee claims, SCC constitution, valuation process, reserve price fixation, overtime work, and auction proceedings.
The Tribunal noted that it had already directed filing of dissolution application without extending liquidation timeline. The Liquidator's counsel reported that distribution was complete for 50% of employees. The Tribunal referenced its previous order dated 24 April 2026 which directed the Liquidator to call employees in person and transfer amounts to their accounts after due verification, specifically prohibiting transfers to unions or employee representatives.
Final Outcome
The Tribunal adjourned the hearing and listed the application for next hearing on 09 July 2026. No substantive orders were passed on the reliefs sought during this hearing.
Topics: Employee Claims, Liquidation Process