In Brief
Bank of Baroda challenged the approval of a resolution plan submitted by MBL Infrastructures' promoter Anjanee Kumar Lakhotiya under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The core issue was whether Section 29A(h) IBC—barring those with invoked personal guarantees from submitting resolution plans—disqualified Lakhotiya. The Supreme Court held that while Section 29A(h) did technically bar him, given the plan's 78.50% Committee of Creditors approval, techno-economic viability, five years of successful operation benefiting 23,000 shareholders and thousands of employees, and substantial capital infusion, the Court declined to vacate it. Dissenting creditors retained liquidation-value security under the plan. The Court emphasized a purposive interpretation of Section 29A to prevent unscrupulous elements from regaining control, while balancing this against the paramount Code objective: timely revival and continuation of solvent corporate debtors.
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