Supreme Court agrees to open court hearing of JSW Steel's review petition against Bhushan Power verdict

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the request for open court hearing of the review petition filed by JSW Steel against the Supreme Court's May 2 verdict which had rejected JSW's resolution plan for debt-ridden Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) [Punjab National Bank & Anr v Kalyani Transco & Ors]. .A Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the parties on the review petition and said the case will be heard on July 31 in open court."Application(s) for listing review petition(s) in open court and application for oral hearing are allowed. Issue notice," the Court said. .On May 2, a Bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma had rejected JSW's plan for BPSL, holding that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) erred in approving the plan. The Bench held that the proposal violated the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).The Court had also ordered the liquidation of BSPL under the IBC..JSW Steel had emerged as the successful resolution applicant for BPSL in 2019, after offering to pay over ₹19,000 crore to financial creditors. The resolution plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in September 2019. It was later upheld by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) as well, despite legal challenges, including concerns raised by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the attachment of BPSL’s assets.The matter reached the Supreme Court amid growing concern that JSW Steel had not implemented the plan for years since approval. The Court noted that the resolution applicant failed to fulfill essential post-approval obligations, undermining the very objectives of the IBC, which includes time-bound resolution of insolvency and maximization of asset value.Notably, in December 2024, the ED decided not to pursue its appeal before the Supreme Court against JSW Steel's takeover of Bhushan Power and Steel under the IBC.It also returned attached assets valued at ₹4,025 crore to JSW Steel so that it could take control of Bhushan Power pursuant to the insolvency resolution process under IBC. .[Read Order]