NCLT revives Lavasa City insolvency, dismisses resolution application of Darwin Platform
The order was issued in response to a petition filed by the applicants or intervenors who are a group of more than 500 homebuyers against DPIL
The Mumbai Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) comprising Anil Raj Chellan (technical member) and Kuldip Kumar Kareer (judicial member) on Friday ordered dismissal of the resolution application of Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL) for acquisition of the Lavasa Hill City for failing to implement the resolution plan. It restored the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) with Shailesh Verma as resolution professional (RP).
The order stated, “...The period from July 13, 2021, from the date of submission of the plan by the resolution applicant (DPIL), as successful resolution applicant (SRA), till January 3, 2022, the date of filing of the plan approval application, shall stand excluded having been rendered redundant owing to the failure of the SRA in the implementation of the resolution plan. The monitoring committee shall stand dissolved with immediate effect.”
The order was issued in response to a petition filed by the applicants or intervenors who are a group of more than 500 homebuyers against DPIL.
Lavasa Hill City at Mulshi taluka of Pune district was formed as a private corporation by investors to build and manage a hillside resort. However, the project bombed after completing a fifth of its first phase with liabilities mostly owing to financial institutions.
The project was admitted for insolvency by the NCLT in August 2018 and Mumbai-based Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd on December 2021 took over the privately-built township at a bidding price of ₹1,814-crore approved by the committee of creditors (CoC). The takeover had brightened up the chances of residents who had been at the receiving end of infrastructural bottlenecks for over ten years. Investors who purchased properties, which couldn’t be built, had expressed hope that the project would be completed.
The order stated, “We found that the SRA has failed to take any positive action to implement the approved resolution plan without any justifiable reasons. No purpose would be served by granting further time to SRA for implementation of the resolution plan. Any further delay in the resolution of the corporate debtor would not only severely affect the interest of various stakeholders, but would also render the resolution impossible. Thus, the prayer of the SRA seeking an extension of time for the implementation of the approved resolution plan is hereby rejected.”
The tribunal held the creditors’ decision to invoke the performance bank guarantees worth ₹25 crore by DPIL citing non-compliance of the insolvency process.
The applicants/intervenors had filed appeals before the NCLT wherein the homebuyers alleged serious irregularities in the resolution plan.
With the bankruptcy court dismissing Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd’s (DPIL) plea, the stakeholders will have to again start the sale process.
