The Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the IBC) represents a radical rewriting of India’s corporate insolvency procedures, enabling creditors to restructure bad debts and rehabilitate corporate debtors within specified timelines.

The IBC process, like the Australian and UK administration procedures, is not a debtor in possession procedure. Instead, a third-party insolvency practitioner (the Resolution Professional) takes control of the corporate debtor and, within strict statutory time frames, formulates a restructuring plan that creditors need to approve. The IBC process gives substantial power to financial creditors, both domestic and foreign.

Since the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”) came into effect in India in December 2016, over 200 applications have been filed under the Code. While various decisions have helped clear up some ambiguities, they have also raised more questions. Rulings of the National Company Law Tribunal and its appellate body, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, have opened discussions around interpretations of different provisions of the Code. In partnership with Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas &…