Banks Can Vote Against NBCC's Jaypee Infratech Bid: Tribunal

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday clarified that the lenders of Jaypee Infratech (JIL) can vote against the NBCC's bid to acquire the insolvent real estate company.

The Delhi-based appellate also directed for the completion of the ongoing voting process, which ends later in the day.

IDBI Bank, the lead banker to JIL had approached NCLAT seeking permission to vote against public sector construction major's bid.

"We have not said don't vote against NBCC," the bench said implying that the lenders could vote against the bid.

The three member bench headed by NCLAT Chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya has also directed the resolution professional Anuj Jain to report the appellate tribunal about the outcome of the voting.

The bench further clarified that the votes of the absentees would not be counted in the total voting percentage.

IDBI Bank is against NBCC's resolution plan on the grounds of the bid being conditional.

The NBCC's bid seeks the cancellation of an estimated income tax liability of Rs 33,000 crore due over a period of 30 years under the concession agreement for the transfer of land from the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) to Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL). 

The PSU also sought relief from taking consent of the YEIDA for any business transfer between JIL and Yamuna Expressway SPV for transfer of assets as well as land parcels from JIL to the land bank "special purpose vehicle" (SPV). 

The CoC had asked the state-run construction major to clarify on the conditions and also sought their removal from the plan. The NBCC made some minor changes to its bid, including reducing the quantity of unsold inventory it plans to give out to the lenders, but did not do away with the contentious clauses related to income tax liability and taking approval of YEIDA for any business transfer between YEIDA and JIL.

Following this, although the CoC put the bid to vote, IDBI Bank eventually approached the NCLAT seeking permission to reject the bid.