Sarda Energy challenges NCLT order on SKS Power bid
Sarda Energy & Minerals (SEML) has challenged the National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) order earlier this month directing the committee of creditors (CoC) to reconsider their decision to declare the company as the preferred bidder to take over the debt-laden SKS Power Generation, four people aware of the petition told ET.
The plea, filed in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday, has said that the court has erred in questioning the wisdom of the CoC and has sought a direction to the NCLT to consider the plans in its current form.
«The company expects the NCLAT to send the case back to NCLT for a final order. One premise of the petition is that the CoC has followed a well laid out process and selected Sarda and the NCLT order sending it back to lenders is contrary to the insolvency law,» said a person familiar with the petition.
ET could not access the exact petition.
In the NCLT order dated October 6, a two-judge bench of Prabhat Kumar and Kishore Vemulapalli said the decision of the CoC was based on incomplete financial data making the decision-making process «perverse and amenable to interference» by the bench. "...this bench consider(s) it appropriate to remit the resolution Plan of SEML… to the CoC for their re-consideration of all the plans...."
SEML's corporate finance chief didn't respond to ET's queries.
The bone of contention according to the order is the ₹180.31 crore of bank guarantees drawn on banks for which all the bidders, SEML, Torrent Power, Vantage Point Asset Management and Jindal Power had committed different amounts to make good over and above their payments to take over the company.
«We find that Torrent and Vanguard has committed ₹49.75 crore and ₹50 crore
