Practice Area
Insolvency & Restructuring
Proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and advice on distressed assets and debt restructuring.
The Practice
Insolvency law in India is governed mainly by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code). It allows a creditor, or the company itself, to ask the National Company Law Tribunal to begin a time-bound process to rescue a company that has defaulted, or to liquidate it if rescue fails. The Firm acts for resolution professionals, creditors, corporate debtors and resolution applicants at every stage of that process.
The Firm’s insolvency and restructuring practice represents resolution professionals, financial and operational creditors, corporate debtors and resolution applicants in proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, before the National Company Law Tribunal, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court of India.
Alongside contentious work, the practice advises lenders and borrowers on debt restructuring, project finance and the creation and enforcement of security, enabling clients to be advised by a single team from the issue of a demand notice through to the approval of a resolution plan.
How It Works
How the process works
A corporate insolvency resolution process begins with an application. A financial creditor applies under Section 7. An operational creditor first serves a demand notice under Section 8, to which the company has ten days to reply, including by pointing to a pre-existing dispute, and may then apply under Section 9. The company itself may apply under Section 10. The default must be at least ₹1 crore.
Once the Tribunal admits an application, a moratorium under Section 14 stops suits and recovery against the company, the board is suspended and a resolution professional takes over its management. The process is meant to conclude within 180 days, extendable by 90 days, with an outer limit of 330 days including litigation, although courts have allowed more time in exceptional cases. A committee of creditors, voting by at least 66 per cent, decides whether to approve a resolution plan. If no plan is approved, the company goes into liquidation. Section 29A disqualifies certain persons, including those connected with a defaulting company, from submitting a resolution plan.
How an engagement runs
- Assessment: the Firm reviews the debt, the records of default and the limitation position before any step is taken, and advises whether insolvency, recovery proceedings or arbitration is the better route.
- Filing or defence: preparation of the application, or of the reply to the demand notice and the opposition to admission.
- During the process: advice to the resolution professional or the creditor on claims, avoidance transactions and the plan, and appearances before the Tribunal.
- Appeal: appeals to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
Scope of Work
Areas of Advice and Representation
- 01Applications under Sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and their defence
- 02Advice to and representation of resolution professionals in the corporate insolvency resolution process
- 03Preferential, undervalued, fraudulent and extortionate transactions
- 04Resolution plans, including the acquisition of real estate projects in insolvency
- 05Insolvency of personal guarantors to corporate debtors
- 06Liquidation proceedings and the adjudication of claims
- 07Debt restructuring, creation of security and recovery for lenders and borrowers
Forums
Courts and Tribunals
- National Company Law Tribunal
- National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
- Supreme Court of India
- Debt Recovery Tribunals
Questions
Questions and Answers
- What is the minimum default to start insolvency proceedings against a company?
- The default must be at least ₹1 crore. Below that, creditors usually look to recovery suits, summary suits or arbitration.
- Is there a time limit for filing?
- The Limitation Act, 1963 applies, so an application is generally filed within three years of the date of default. A written acknowledgement of the debt within that period can extend time.
- Can a personal guarantor be proceeded against?
- Yes. The Code's provisions on individual insolvency have been brought into force for personal guarantors to corporate debtors, and the Supreme Court upheld them in Lalit Kumar Jain v. Union of India (2021). A creditor may proceed against the guarantor as well as the company.
- Can homebuyers start proceedings against a developer?
- Homebuyers are treated as financial creditors. To apply, an application must be filed jointly by at least 100 allottees of the same project or 10 per cent of all allottees, whichever is less.
- What happens to a company's existing court cases when the moratorium begins?
- Suits and proceedings for recovery against the company are suspended for the duration of the moratorium, subject to the exceptions in Section 14.
Related Reading
- NCLT’s Power to Recall a CIRP Admission: Supreme Court in Orris Infrastructure (2026)
- The IBC Prevails: Examining the Overriding Effect of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, over the Electricity Act, 2003
- Preserving the Insolvency Framework: Judicial Limits on Speculative Homebuyers Under the IBC
- The Admission Conundrum: Judicial Discretion, Mandatory Triggers, and the Arbitration Intersection in India’s Insolvency Regime
- When Housing Dreams Turn Into Insolvency Nightmares: Why the Supreme Court Said No to Speculative Investors in Real Estate
- The Possession Handover Paradox: Analysing IBBI’s New Regulation 4E and the Liquidation Value Controversy
- Insolvency Law Bulletin: 10–16 February 2023
- Insolvency Law Bulletin: 1–10 February 2023
- Insolvency Law Bulletin: January 2023
