ICICI Bank has filed a bankruptcy petition against debt-ridden Jaiprakash Associates with the Allahabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The petition, under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, will formally initiate insolvency proceedings against the company.

“As is clear from the Order itself that (sic) no notice of the Petition had been served on the Company,” Jaiprakash Associates said in a regulatory filing on Monday, adding that it has been given time to file its reply within seven days.

The matter is listed for hearing on September 17.

₹1,500 crore owed

ICICI Bank is the lead lender in the consortium. Jaiprakash Associates, which is into the construction, real estate and cement businesses, is understood to owe it close to ₹1,500 crore.

The move comes nearly a year after the Reserve Bank of India came out with a second list of close to 30 companies to be taken to the NCLT. Jaiprakash Associates featured on the list.

Banks were given time to resolve these cases outside the NCLT till December 2017, failing which they were to face insolvency proceedings.

The RBI had rejected an appeal by the lenders to exempt Jaiprakash Associates from insolvency proceedings and allow debt restructuring outside the bankruptcy process.

Earlier, in the JP Infratech case, the Supreme Court had asked the RBI to initiate insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash Associates, noting that it owes over ₹30,000 crore to 30 banks.

The company’s scrip fell 3.70 per cent and closed at ₹10.68 a piece on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.

Jaiprakash Associates is the flagship firm of the Jaypee Group. Manoj Gaur is its Executive Director and CEO.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2018, the company posted a net loss of ₹285 crore as against a net profit of ₹764.99 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

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