What govt is doing to avoid another Vijay Mallya-like case

MM Kumar, President of the National Company Law Tribunal, has said the new bankruptcy law will great reduce the chances of “another Mallya happening”.Speaking to Mint, he said the provisions in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code say that the day a default is committed for more than Rs 1 lakh, the machinery must be put to action, and the person concerned will be liable if he does not disclose it.Earlier this week, a chargesheet was filed against liquor baron Vijay Mallya in the Rs. 900 crore loan default case by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mallya has been accused of conspiracy and cheating. The chairman of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines had fled to the UK last year after the case came to light. Wanted in a series of loan default cases, Mallya has also been named as an absconder in the 1000-page charge-sheet."It [the law] has been taken care of,” Kumar said. “It appears that the law is foolproof, if worked out properly by each stakeholder. The provisions in various statutes are quite stringent now which will put the people involved in the default to task.’’

The National Company Law Tribunal was set up in 2016 as an adjudicating authority to take up the role of the Company Law Board and other jurisdictions of winding up, liquidation, and corporate insolvency.

Kumar said that NCLT is currently building capacity to cope with new type of cases and felt that quick disposal cases is important for India to become an investment hub.