In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Innoventive Industries Ltd against admission of an insolvency application by ICICI Bank under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The company argued that its debt was suspended under the Maharashtra Relief Undertakings Act, 1958, and that creditors had failed to disburse funds under a restructuring agreement, so no default occurred. The Court held that the Code, being a later exhaustive statute on bankruptcy, is repugnant to and overrides the Maharashtra Act, whose prolonged suspension would frustrate the Code's core objective of swift resolution within 180 days. The Court rejected the company's after-thought defence regarding creditor non-performance, finding such arguments should have been raised initially and noting the company's obligations under the restructuring agreement were unconditional. The appeals were dismissed with no order as to costs.
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