Authority: National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Division Bench (Court–I), Chennai

Order Date: July 16, 2026

Case Overview

This hearing concerned Main Petition IBA/703/2020, an insolvency application filed by State Bank of India (SBI) against Ms. Anitha Agarwal, a Personal Guarantor. The specific matter heard was an Interlocutory Application numbered IA(IBC)/311(CHE)/2025 in IA/IBC/1836(CHE)/2024.

An affidavit was filed by the Personal Guarantor (Respondent) making several key claims. It stated that a 'Scheme Proponent' had deposited ₹2.0 Crores with SBI exclusively for the consideration of releasing the Personal Guarantee and a Corporate Guarantee. This payment was asserted to be entirely independent of any consideration payable under a separate scheme. Furthermore, it was claimed that beyond this ₹2.0 Crores, the Scheme Proponent had paid an additional ₹22.0 Crores for the implementation of the scheme for all financial creditors. The affidavit alleged that despite these payments, SBI had neither released the guarantees nor refunded the ₹2.0 Crores amount. Subsequently, the Guarantors made a further settlement proposal, offering an additional sum of ₹75.0 Lakhs over and above the ₹2.0 Crores already with the bank. The Guarantor's contention was that SBI, while rejecting this new proposal, failed to consider the ₹2.0 Crores already deposited.

During the hearing, the Learned Counsel for SBI (the Petitioner) submitted that the Respondent/Personal Guarantor had agreed to withdraw a separate petition she had filed before the Hon'ble High Court concerning a 'declaration of fraud'. This matter had been forwarded to the bank for its consideration.

Final Outcome

Both counsels sought and were granted one week's time. The Registry was directed to accept the hard copy of the affidavit filed by the Respondent. The petition and the application have been adjourned and are now listed for the next hearing on August 3, 2026. No final ruling on the settlement or the underlying insolvency petition was made in this order.

Topics: Insolvency Proceeding, Settlement Negotiation, Personal Guarantee