Supreme Court objects to Resolution Professional filing appeal against NCLAT order, says RP should be neutral

The Supreme Court recently objected to a Resolution Professional (RP) filing appeals against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order [Regen Powertech Private Limited vs Giriraj Enterprises and anr]..In its order dated September 25, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti observed that the concerned RP was expected to be neutral. The Court explained that an appeal, if any, should have been filed by the aggrieved parties including the corporate debtor or the committee of creditors (CoC). ."The Resolution Professional should have maintained a neutral stand. It is for the aggrieved parties, including the Committee of Creditors of Regen Powertech Private Limited (RPPL) and Regen Infrastructure and Services Private Limited (RISPL), to take appropriate proceedings or file an appeal before this Court," the Court said. .It, therefore, refused to entertain the appeals filed by the RP in the case..The matter involved ₹1306.40 crore claim by the CoC of Regen Powertech Pvt Ltd (corporate debtor) led by the State Bank of India (creditor)..In December 2019, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Regen Powertech Private Limited (RPPL). The CoC subsequently approved a resolution plan but separate applications were filed by other parties seeking the consolidation of the CIRPs of RPPL and a related entity, Regen Infrastructure and Services Private Limited (RISPL)..The NCLT refused to consolidate the CIRPs and accepted the resolution plan of the CoC, leading to appeals before the NCLAT. The NCLAT allowed the appeals and directed the consolidation of CIRPs leading to an appeal before filed before Supreme Court by the RP. .The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal.However, it said it would take the assistance of the RP in dealing with appeals if filed by the CoC or third parties..Senior Advocate Guru Krishna Kumar with advocates K Parameshwar, MV Mukunda, AG Sathyanarayana, Mithun Shashank, Kanti, Arti Gupta, Ashwin K and Nishanth Patil appeared for the appellant (RP)..[Read Order]