Torrent files urgent plea in SC against Hinduja plan for Reliance Capital

Ahmedabad-based Torrent Investment has for the second time gone to the Supreme Court to stay a resolution plan the Hinduja Group has submitted to take over bankrupt Reliance Capital.

Torrent, in a Letter of Urgency submitted on Tuesday, urgently requested the court’s intervention to quickly resolve its pending appeals contesting the second round of auction for Reliance Capital’s assets on April 26.

In that round, Hinduja Group’s IIHL emerged as the sole bidder after Torrent Investment opted out. IIHL submitted an all-cash bid of Rs 9,800 crore. In June, Reliance Capital’s lenders overwhelmingly approved IIHL’s resolution plan, garnering 99.6 per cent of the votes. The plan is awaiting final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

It is the second time that Torrent has sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to block the approval of IIHL’s resolution plan by NCLT. An earlier attempt on August 25 was unsuccessful when the court declined to stay the proceedings.

Torrent’s new attempt said that while its appeals were pending before the Supreme Court, the committee of creditors (COC) for Reliance Capital proceeded with the second round of auction and approved IIHL’s resolution plan, and submitted it for NCLT’s approval. The NCLT will hear IIHL’s plan on October 25. According to Torrent Investment, these actions were taken by the banks despite the company’s pending appeals with the Supreme Court.

Torrent said it again sought the Supreme Court’s attention to hear its pending appeals immediately due to these developments. The court will hear the matter on October 11.