Supreme Court directs status quo on BPSL liquidation proceedings in JSW Steel's plea
The Supreme Court of India today has ordered status quo in the liquidation proceedings of Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL), currently pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has passed the said direction in a Special Leave Petition filed by JSW Steel Ltd, seeking abeyance of any further hearing in applications filed be erstwhile promoter to expedite liquidation proceedings pending before Ld. NCLT.
Supreme Court has observed that as the limitation period for filing a review petition against the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment dated May 2, 2025 (which rejected JSW’s ₹19,700 crore resolution plan for BPSL) was still running and in light of this a status quo on proceedings before the NCLT was required so that practical ramifications of the judgment may not be further complicated.
On May 2, the Supreme Court had set aside a resolution plan submitted by JSW Steel Limited for BSPL, holding it illegal and in violation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Court faulted both the CoC and the NCLT for approving the BPSL resolution plan. The court also directed creditors to return the funds already disbursed under the now-invalidated plan, including equity contributions.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Committee of Creditors, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and the Union of India. Senior Advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Gopal Jain appeared on behalf of JSW Steel Ltd. Senior Advocate Pinaki Misra appeared on behalf of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd. Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta appeared on behalf of the ex-promoters, i.e. Sanjay Singhal.
The Successful Resolution Applicant, i.e., JSW and Corporate Debtor, BPSL were led by a team of Karanjawala & Co. led by Ms. Nandini Gore, Senior Partner and Ms. Tahira Karanjawala, Partner along with Ms. Swati Bhardwaj, Mr. Shreyas Maheshwari, Mr. Akarsh Sharma, Ms. Manvi Rastogi, Ms. Sharanya Ghosh, Mr. Shahyan Khan, Ms. Mahek Karanjawala, and a team of AZB Partners led by Mr. Rajendra Barot, Senior Partner along with Mr. Vivek Shetty, Mr. Suharsh Sinha, Ms. Sherna Doongaji, Mr. Akilesh Menezes and Dr. Abhimanyu Chopra.