The Committee of creditors (CoC) of Binani Cement followed the rule book in negotiating with Dalmia Bharat.
According to CoC counsel, Pratap Chatterjee, the lenders committee decided to negotiate only with the H1 bidder (Dalmia Bharat’s wholly-owned subsidiary Rajputana Properties) following the ‘rules laid down in the process document and the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) guidelines’. This was to ensure a ‘time-bound solution of the problem keeping in mind maximisation of asset value’.
The division bench comprising of Justice Jinan KR and Justice Madan Balachandra Gosavi, on Tuesday, asked why the CoC “neglected” the revised offer from Ultratech, which was higher than the offer made by the H1 bidder.
To this, Pratap Chatterjee said: “CoC decided to work upon the timeline and as per the rules laid down in the process document. They decided to follow CVC guidelines and contact and negotiate only with the H1 bidder.”
He further added that it would not be correct to ‘change the rules of the game once it is over’ indicating that the revised bid from Ultratech was more as an afterthought and accepting that would set a ‘precedent’ for other cases undergoing insolvency.