CCI Has No Power to Investigate Disputes Concerning Abuse Of Patents: NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday reaffirmed that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has no authority to investigate disputes involving the exercise of patent rights, holding that such matters fall exclusively under the Patents Act, 1970.The tribunal said that when a product is protected by a patent, issues related to its pricing or licensing must be addressed under patent law and not under competition law. A coram of Judicial Member Justice Yogesh Khanna...

Burden To Prove Ownership Of Assets Lies On Claimant; Liquidator Not Required To Establish Title To Assets In His Custody: NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) New Delhi upheld an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowing liquidators to remove moveable assets from the leased premises owned by Reliance Realty Limited (RRL) and restraining RRL from obstructing access to such assets. A bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Mr. Barun Mitra (Technical Member) held that “when the Liquidator took control and possession of the goods/assets lying in the leased premises, this was also ...

Company's Worth Is Irrelevant For Initiating Insolvency If Debt & Default Are Established: NCLAT New Delhi

The Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), New Delhi, comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan (Chairperson) and Arun Baroka (Member-technical), has held that the company's worth is irrelevant for initiating insolvency if debt and default are established. The appeal was filed against the admission of the Section 7 application filed by the Axis Bank against the corporate debtor for debt and default of Rs. 16,95,95,909. Contention of the Parties The appellant, a corporate debtor, argued...

Appeal Against Dismissal Of Contempt Petition By NCLT Not Maintainable: NCLAT Chennai

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) at Chennai has recently held that an appeal against dismissal of a contempt petition by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is not maintainable before the Appellate Tribunal under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. A coram comprising Judicial Member Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma and Technical Member Jatindranath Swain ruled that such an appeal would lie only against an order imposing punishment for contempt, not against a...

RP's Admission Of Claim In Earlier CIRP Amounts To Acknowledgement U/S 18 Limitation Act For Commencement Of Fresh Limitation Period: NCLAT

The NCLAT, Principal Bench, New Delhi, comprising Justice N. Seshasayee (Member-Judicial) and Arun Baroka (Member-Technical), has held that the admission of a financial creditor's claim by a resolution professional during an earlier CIRP amounts to an acknowledgement of debt within the meaning of section 18 of the Limitation Act. Therefore, the said acknowledgement gives the fresh period of limitation for initiating CIRP under IBC. Background of the Case DHFL had advanced two loans...

Unenforced Equitable Mortgage Remains Corporate Debtor's Asset, Cannot Be Treated As Margin Money: NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) New Delhi set aside an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai by which it directed that an amount equivalent to 5% of the value of Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs), Letters of Credit (LCs), and Bank Guarantees (BGs) be excluded from the total assets of Frost International Limited and be allocated to Bank of India (BOI) as margin money.A bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Mr. Barun Mitra (Technical Member) held that “Since...

NCLAT Seeks Replies From Aakash, Others On Byju's Plea To Block Rights Issue

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, on Thursday sought replies from Aakash Educational Services Ltd. (AESL) and other respondents in a plea filed by debt-ridden edtech major Byju's (Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd.) seeking to restrain Aakash from proceeding with a proposed rights issue that could dilute its shareholding in the test-prep subsidiary.The right's issue which was approved by the shareholder's in an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Wednesday is scheduled to...

“Value of Byju's Stake Cannot Be Preserved if Aakash Is Commercially Killed,” NCLAT Declines to Stay Rights Issue EGM

Observing that the value of Byju's stake in Aakash cannot be preserved if the subsidiary is commercially “killed”, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai Bench, refused to stay Aakash Educational Services Ltd.'s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for a proposed rights issue scheduled on October 29. The tribunal dismissed a plea by GLAS Trust Company LLC, a US-based lender to Byju's (Think and Learn pvt Ltd) , which sought to block the EGM. It observed “the value of...

NCLAT Chennai Refuses To Stay Aakash's EGM To Approve Rights Issue, Declines Plea By US-Based Lender

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal at Chennai has rejected a plea by GLAS Trust Company LLC, the U.S.-based lender representing the creditors of crisis hit ed-tech Byju's, to stay the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) scheduled for October 29, 2025. The EGM aims to approve a rights issue that would dilute Byju's 25.75% stake in AESL to approximately 5%, as the company, currently under insolvency proceedings, cannot participate in the...

NCLAT Upholds CIRP Against Privilege Power; Rejects Sarang Wadhawan's Appeal

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal at New Delhi, recently upheld the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Privilege Power and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (PPIL), dismissing an appeal filed by its shareholder Sarang Kumar Wadhawan.Chairperson Ashok Bhushan and Memebers Barun Mitra and Arun Baroka held that the CIRP application filed by Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd. (successor to Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, or PMC Bank) was well within limitation as the fraud was...

Guarantors Cannot Plead Non-Service Of Demand Notice After Admitting Receipt Before Supreme Court: NCLAT Chennai

The NCLAT, Chennai Bench, comprising Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma (Member-Judicial) and Jatindranath Swain (Member-Technical), has set aside the order of the NCLT, Amravati, and restored the SBI's insolvency petition against the personal guarantors of M/s Seven Hills Health Care Pvt. Ltd. Background of the Case The financial creditor (State Bank of India) had provided financial assistance to M/s Seven Hills Health Care Pvt. Ltd., in which Dr. Jitendra Das Maganti and Dr. Renuka Rani...

Listing of Mediated Settlements Within 14 Days is Directory Not Mandatory : NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has recently clarified that the 14-day period under Rule 26(1) of the Companies (Mediation and Conciliation) Rules, 2016, for listing a mediated settlement before the Tribunal, is only advisory and not mandatory.A coram comprising Judicial Member Justice Yogesh Khanna and Technical Member Ajai Das Mehrotra made the clarification while hearing an appeal by a shareholder of Accurate Engineering Company Pvt. Ltd., a Salunke family-owned business,...