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JSW Steel’s Bhushan Power takeover may soon see light of day

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) The much-delayed, high-profile resolution process of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) may soon become a success as the Supreme Court is likely to give its final verdict in coming days.

In its previous hearing on September 4, the top court gave two more weeks to both the parties — ex-BPSL promoter Sanjay Singal and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) — to make their final submissions.

JSW Steel’s Rs 19,700 crore bid to acquire BPSL hit a stalemate as the ED had moved the top court earlier against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order to lift the attachment order against BPSL’s properties.

The ED has argued that the appellate tribunal has no jurisdiction to unfreeze and approve the sale of an asset attached by the investigating agency.

The case also raises concerns regarding the effectiveness of the much-hailed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), as the ED continues to hold on the attachments although the government made an amendment to the IBC to protect buyers of bankrupt companies, through the introduction of the IBC’s Section 32A in December.

The NCLAT approved the JSW Steel’s resolution plan in February this year. The ED has so far attached assets worth over Rs 4,000 crore of Bhushan Power and JSW Steel is against paying the amount without the assets being released by the ED.

Earlier, this week, the State Bank of India (SBI), the lead banker to the bankrupt BPDL, invoked the personal guarantees of Singal, the former promoter of the company, and has sent him a demand notice for recovery of Rs 12,275.91 crore.

–IANS

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