A five-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has stayed a INR65 million (USD677,556) repayment plan as settlement for a INR220 billion loan taken by Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra. Essel Group is a multinational media conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.
The repayment plan was approved by 80.8% votes. However, some creditors contended that the committee of creditors included at least five entities that were associated and related parties of the personal guarantor in the matter. It was alleged that the voting share of the five entities totals 61.78% and is only one of the many irregularities in the committee of creditors.
Irregularities include, including a family member of the personal guarantor and wrong assessment of the personal guarantor’s net worth.
It was alleged that Sushila Devi Goel, sister-in-law of the personal guarantor, was the controlling person behind Veena Investments, one of the entities with voting rights on the repayment plan. Two of Veena Investments’ subsidiaries, Direct Media Distribution Ventures and World Crest Advisors, also had voting rights on the plan.
This raised challenges of a wrongfully constituted committee of creditors, which also questioned the validity and applicability of the approved repayment plan.
Contentions were also raised against the small amount in the repayment plan against Chandra’s purported net worth. According to net-worth certificates submitted by Chandra to RBL Bank in 2017 and to Canara Bank in 2018, Chandra was worth more than INR495 billion in those years.
The Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited v Dr Subhash Chandra matter is ongoing and will be listed on 23 September 2026.
