The Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed ICICI Bank's application seeking insolvency proceedings against Hyderabad Ring Road Projects Pvt Ltd on the ground of duplicacy as proceedings are already underway against Era Infra Engineering, of which the former firm is a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
The two-judge bench headed by NCLT President M.M. Kumar dismissed the petition, saying "on account of duplicacy of the claims the petition cannot be entertained".
"It is evident that the claim lodged by the petitioner -- ICICI Bank Ltd before Rajiv Chakaraborty, IRP (Insolvency Resolution Professional) of that company (namely Era Infra Engineering Ltd) has already been collated and admitted," the tribunal said.
During the proceedings, the Hyderabad Ring Road Projects counsel Vijay Kumar Singh noted that ICICI Bank did not disclose that their claim has already been accepted by the IRP appointed in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Era Infra Engineering Ltd.
A partner with Singh & Associates, Vijay Kumar Singh also represents Era Infra Engineering at the NCLT.
Era Infra Engineering was in the first list of the 12 defaulting companies sent by the Reserve Bank of India to the banks in 2017 for recovery of debt through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
Earlier this month, the Delhi bench of the tribunal had dismissed ICICI Bank's plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Era Infra Engineering subsidiary Era Infrastructure, on a similar basis.
--IANS
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