The Kolkata bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday posted all the cases filed by the erstwhile promoter company of Srei group, Adisri Commercial, for further hearing on March 21, as one of the technical members of the division bench was unavailable.

The erstwhile promoters of the Srei group had urged NCLT to set aside the order admitting the companies under insolvency as the date of alleged default fell within the “blackout period” mentioned under Section 10A of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The counsels appearing on behalf of the erstwhile promoters had also urged NCLT to consider presenting the resolution plan, submitted by them under Section 12A, to the committee of creditors (CoC) for their consideration.

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Both cases were to be heard today but no fresh submissions were made and the cases were posted for hearing on March 21.

It is to be noted that Adisri Commercial had recently submitted a resolution plan under Section 12A to withdraw the companies SIFL and SEFL from insolvency and settle the entire claim of around ₹32,000 crore with the creditors. It offered to pay ₹3,500 crore upfront cash with NPV (net present value) of ₹7,000 crore. The entire claim was to be repaid over a period of time using multiple financial instruments such as upfront cash, NCDs, OCDs and equity.

However, the administrator of the Srei group companies had refused to accept the resolution plan, saying he was not the “competent authority” to accept the plan under Section 12A of IBC and that it was up to the Reserve Bank of India, which had filed the insolvency petitions against the companies, to either accept or reject the resolution plan.

Following the completion of the challenge mechanism process, the Srei group entities had received three bids. The consolidated CoC for two insolvent Srei companies approved NARCL’s offer of ₹5,555 crore in NPV terms, including upfront cash of ₹3,180 crore, with the highest voting (89.25 per cent) amongst the bidders. The resolution plan submitted by Authum Investment and Infrastructure (₹5,526 crore in NPV terms) received 84.86 per cent vote, and that of the consortium of Varde Partners and Arena Investors (₹4,680 crore in NPV terms) got 9 per cent vote.

Subsequently, Authum Investment and Infrastructure filed a petition before the Kolkata bench of NCLT, challenging the process adopted by the CoC in which NARCL became the highest bidder. Authum’s plea will come up for hearing on March 21.