NCLT Partly Allows Preponement Application in Liquidation Case
Authority: National Company Law Tribunal, Indore Bench, Court No. 1
Order Date: 09/06/2026
Case Overview
The application IA/340(MP)2026 was filed by Aditya Bhatnagar against Teena Saraswat Pandey & Anr under Rule 11 of the NCLT Rules 2016. The applicant sought to prepone the hearing of IA No. 175 of 2026 from 15.07.2026 to an earlier date and obtain interim directions for the Resolution Professional/proposed Liquidator regarding a ₹742 Crores counter-claim. The counter-claim is pending against Respondent No. 2 (Bank of Baroda) in OA No. 347/2018 before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Jabalpur. The applicant argued that this counter-claim constitutes a valuable actionable claim that should form part of the liquidation estate under Section 36 of the IBC. A serious conflict of interest was highlighted as Bank of Baroda, against whom the counter-claim is pending, is the sole member of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) holding 100% voting share. The CoC had already approved resolutions for the appointment of a Liquidator in its 16th meeting held on 28.04.2026, with e-voting concluded on 15.05.2026. The corporate debtor is on the verge of liquidation, and the applicant apprehended that without urgent protection, the valuable counter-claim might be ignored or defeated in the liquidation process.
Final Outcome
The NCLT Bench comprising Hon'ble Shri Brajendra Mani Tripathi (Member-Judicial) and Hon'ble Shri Man Mohan Gupta (Member-Technical) partly allowed the application. The tribunal directed the preponement of the hearing of the main IA (IA/175(MP)2026) to 15.06.2026. The registry was instructed to take appropriate steps to ensure the matter is listed on the new date. The application was disposed of accordingly. The tribunal did not grant the other prayers for interim directions to the Resolution Professional regarding the recognition and protection of the counter-claim at this stage.
Topics: Insolvency Proceedings, Conflict of Interest