The Supreme Court's bench hearing the review petition by JSW Steel and lenders over Bhushan Power resolution said on July 31 that prima facie the judgment quashing the IBC resolution requires reconsideration, as the order to scrap the plan had incorrectly considered prior judgments.
The bench said, "Prima facie, we are of the view that the impugned judgment does not correctly consider the legal position as laid down by previous SC judgments."
The SC bench also said the ground reality is that 25,000 people will on 'thrown on the road' if BPSL is liquidated, adding that the purpose of the IBC is to make a company, which is in doldrums, into a functional entity. The power of the Indian Constitution's Article 142 has to be used to do 'complete justice, and not injustice', the bench said.
The Article 142 of the Constitution grants the Supreme Court the power to pass any order necessary to ensure 'complete justice' in any matter pending before it.
“...this is a fit case wherein the judgement under review needs to be recalled and the matter needs to be considered afresh. So, needless to say that while we are allowing the review, we keep all the questions available to both parties open to be argued at the stage of hearing,” the court said.
The comments by the apex court bench brought relief to stakeholders of JSW Steel, with the shares of JSW Steel at the day's high soon after the hearing commenced. The court had allowed the request by petitioners for a open court hearing in the matter, and was heard by a bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
The JSW-BPSL resolution plan was annulled after five years, after the Supreme Court raised questions around missed timelines, inconsistent creditor oversight, and the role of promoter-linked structures in resolution plan that was allowed to proceed despite non-compliance on several fronts.
The Supreme Court had ordered a status quo on the liquidation proceedings of Bhushan Power and Steel, pending the review petition by JSW Steel. The review petition is seeking relief from the judgment quashing Bhushan Steel's Rs 19,000 crore resolution by the IBC.
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