Delhi High Court Stays Insolvency Proceedings Against Anil Ambani Upon SBI's Claims

The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed proceedings in a case under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) against Anil Ambani in a matter related to a personal guarantee given by him against a loan taken by Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) and Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL) from State Bank of India (SBI). The court also barred Mr Ambani from disposing of any of his assets. SBI had declared the account of Reliance Communications and Reliance Infratel as a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2017.

Earlier this month, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had appointed a bankruptcy administrator to verify SBI's claim that Mr Ambani offered about Rs 1,200 crore of personal guarantees to seek the loan. Following the order, Mr Ambani had filed a plea with the Delhi High Court challenging it.

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar also issued a notice on Mr Ambani's plea challenging the validity of the section pertaining to personal guarantee and bankruptcy and asked whether there is any enabling provision in the IBC for such an order.

The next date of hearing of the case has been scheduled for October 6.