NCLAT dismisses Vedanta's plea to halt Adani's resolution plan for Jaiprakash Associates

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday dismissed an appeal by Vedanta Limited challenging the acceptance of Adani's resolution plan for the debt-laden Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) [Vedanta Vs Bhuvan Madan]..A Bench comprising Chairperson Justice (retired) Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Barun Mitra held that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) were right in rejecting Vedanta's resolution plan. .Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) was admitted into the corporate insolvency resolution process by the Allahabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on June 3, 2024, on a petition filed by ICICI Bank.The company faced admitted claims exceeding ₹57,000 crore, with the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) emerging as the largest financial creditor, holding over 85 per cent voting share in the committee of creditors (CoC)..The CoC comprised 27 members, including banks, financial institutions and a class of homebuyers. A total of 28 expressions of interest were received during the process, of which 25 prospective resolution applicants were shortlisted.Ultimately, six bidders submitted resolution plans, including Adani Enterprises Limited, Vedanta Limited, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, Jindal Power Limited, PNC Infratech Private Limited and Jaypee Infratech Limited..Adani Enterprises and Vedanta emerged as the frontrunners.Following an independent evaluation, Adani’s plan ranked higher, particularly on parameters such as upfront recovery and overall financial value.In its 23rd meeting held in November 2025, the CoC approved Adani Enterprises’ resolution plan with a 93.81 per cent voting share..After the conclusion of the challenge process, Vedanta submitted an addendum to its resolution plan on November 8, 2025.The CoC declined to consider this submission, citing the bidding framework which prohibited post-process modifications of financial proposals..Vedanta has challenged this decision, alleging lack of transparency in the process and contending that its revised offer, pegged at ₹16,070 crore, provided greater value to creditors.The CoC, however, has maintained that the addendum was submitted only after Vedanta became aware that its upfront offer was lower than that of the successful resolution applicant..In March 2025, the NCLAT refused to halt the implementation of Adani's resolution plan.Vedanta approached the Supreme Court against this. The apex court dismissed its plea. The Court, however, also introduced a safeguard by observing that if the monitoring committee or those implementing the plan propose to take any major policy decision, they must seek prior leave of the NCLAT.It further directed NCLAT to hear the case expeditiously. The appellate tribunal gave its verdict today. .Vedanta was represented by Senior Advocate Abhijeet Sinha, along with Advocates Deep Roy, Anuj Lakhotiya, Aridaman Raghav, Heena Kochar, Bhavit Baxi, Shrishti Agnihotri, Rishi Badraj, Aditya Narayan Sharma, Sourabh Goyal and Abhishek..The Resolution Professional was represented by Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Arun Kathpalia with a team from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) comprising Advocates Anoop Rawat, Advocate, Sagar Dhawan, Vaijayant Paliwal, Aditya Marwah, Nikhil Mathur, Ahkam Khan, Rashi Sharma and Kirti Gupta..The Committee of Creditors was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Senior Advocate Niranjan Reddy, along with Advocates Bishwajit Dubey, Madhav Kanoriya, Srideepa Bhattacharyya, Neha Shivhare, Rajeshwari Mukherjee and Anoushka Chauhan.Adani was represented by Senior Advocate Ritin Rai, with a team from Karanjawala & Co. comprising Advocates Sandeep Singhi, Ruby S Ahuja, Seema Sundd, Rituraj Srivastava, Ravneet Kaur Malik, Shruti Pandey and Vedant Singh. Abhishek Swaroop (Partner), Saraf & Partners also appeared in the case.