In Brief
Zenith Infotech Limited filed a reference before the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) under SICA, but the Board's Registrar and Secretary refused registration, claiming the company was not an industrial company. The company challenged this rejection through a writ petition. The Supreme Court held that while the BIFR authorities could scrutinize references for formal compliance, they lacked power to adjudicate the substantive question of whether a company qualified as industrial—that power vested exclusively in a Bench of the Board. The refusal to register was therefore void. Under the transitional provisions of the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (effective December 2016), the company could pursue remedies before the National Company Law Tribunal under Section 252."
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.