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Tuesday, 26 May 2020

26 May 2020 News and Updates

26th May 2K20

Ø Bharti Telecom to raise $1b via block sale of Airtel stk
Ø Aid for oil firms hit by price crash soon
Ø Interpol notice against Nehal Modi put up for viewing
Ø Labour shortage: FMCG firms to accelerate automation
Ø CBIC clears Rs 11,052 cr GST refund claims since Apr 8
Ø India looks to store cheap oil in United States
Ø Consumer discretionary firms face downgrade

Ø PSUs, govt agencies owe Rs 5 trn in outstanding dues to MSMEs: Gadkari
Ø Contrary to govt's claims, direct tax refunds down 67% till May 21
Ø Govt ask RBI to remove sugar from negative list as virus hits consumption
Ø IL&FS invites EoI for 26% in Tripura power plant, sources say ONGC may bid
Ø Moody's revises outlook on Adani Abbot Point Terminal's rating to stable
Ø Volkswagen car owners entitled to damages in emission scandal: German court

Ø ILO expresses deep concern at ‘suspension’ of labour laws
Ø ₹3-lakh-cr emergency credit linefor MSMEs is now operational
Ø ITC to acquire spice-maker Sunrise Foods
Ø UK High Court asks Anil Ambani to pay $717 million in 21 days
Ø JSW Steel Q4 profit plummets 87 per cent due to low demand

Ø India looks to store cheap oil in United States: Dharmendra Pradhan
Ø India an attractive investment destination: Anurag Thakur
Ø Vedanta seeks shareholder nod for delisting
Ø HDFC Q4 net falls to ₹2,233 crore, declares ₹21/share dividend
Ø Slower volume growth may curb Hindustan Zinc's future dividend payout

Ø Sovereign rating: Economists shrug off downgrade fear amid Covid crisis
Ø People more worried about economic crisis than coronavirus, says study
Ø NCLAT sets asides NCLT order to make MCA party in all insolvency, company matters

Ø New Zealand's media company being sold for just $1 to its CEO
Ø India's crude oil imports fall, product exports surge in April
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👉🏻Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response in plea to ban use of Zoom app
( Supreme Court sought the response of the central government in a plea seeking a ban on the use of Zoom software application, citing privacy and security concerns)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/2zYziDN

👉🏻French BPO firm Teleperformance terminates 3,000 employees in India
(French business process outsourcing firm Teleperformance has laid off hundreds of employees in India as its business took a hit at the back of COVID-19)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/3cZT8x4
 
👉🏻Residency under Tax Treaty and Tie Breaker Rules
(Residency under Tax Treaty and Tie Breaker Rules discussed by CA. Anshul Kumar.)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/2znm3MP

👉🏻Transcendental Meditation - Understanding Meditation with a Scientific Perspective
(Transcendental Meditation , as propagated by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is a simple, Easy and Scientifically verified meditation technique to de-stress, promote good Health, Peace and Harmony in Life. Attend an Online Introductory Session LIVE on CA Sansaar YouTube Channel on *24th May,* *5:00 PM* onwards)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/3gjHCyG
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👉 Financial and operational creditors have managed to recover money in just 221 cases, or 14 per cent, of the 1,604 cases resolved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) till March-end.

In the three years ended March 31, there were about 2,170 cases pending before various Benches of the NCLT, taking the overall cases admitted for resolution to 3,774. The NCLT ordered liquidation in 914 cases (57 per cent) while 312 cases (19 per cent) went on appeal and about 157 litigations (10 per cent) were withdrawn, said Motilal Oswal Research’s three-year report card on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Interestingly, of the 914 cases where liquidation was ordered, the final report was submitted for just 69.

The recovery of loans under IBC drops to 25 per cent from 44 per cent, if one excludes the initial list of 12 large defaulters referred by the RBI, in 2017. Of the 12 large companies that defaulted, Electrosteel Steels, Bhushan Steel, Essar Steel, Alok Industries, Jyoti Structure and JP Infratech were resolved while Bhushan Power is awaiting the final verdict of the Supreme Court.

As of March-end, the average time taken for the resolution of cases stood at 410 days (including the days spent under litigation). This is longer than the prescribed 270-day timeframe. The average time taken for the 914 liquidation orders announced to date is 309 days.


👉 New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) At a time when fresh bids have been invited for the grounded Jet Airways, the deadline for completion of its insolvency resolution process has been extended till August 21 due to the lockdown.

The full service carrier, which shuttered operations in March 2019, is under Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and the time period given for its completion was to end on June 13.

According to a regulatory filing, 69 days of lockdown period from March 24 to May 31 would be excluded for computing the CIRP deadline.

The nationwide lockdown to curb spreading of coronavirus infections was announced on March 24 and has been extended thrice. It is now to end on May 31.

"Therefore, the revised timeline for completion of the CIRP of Jet is now August 21, 2020, subject to any further extension of the lockdown by the state government of Maharashtra or the central government, as the case may be," the filing submitted to the stock exchanges on Friday said.

As per the filing, Maharashtra government imposed a lockdown owing to the pandemic with effect from March 24, and the airline''s registered office is in Mumbai.

In March, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said lockdown period ordered by the Centre and state governments, including the period as may be extended either in whole or part of the country, where the registered office of the corporate debtor may be located, would be excluded from being counted under the CIRP.

This is applicable to cases where CIRP has been initiated and pending before any bench of the National Company Law Tribunal or in appeal before the NCLAT, the filing said quoting the tribunal.
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Very important ruling:

The entire lockdown period i.e. from the date of imposition of lockdown by the GOI till the reopening of NCLT Chandigarh Bench on regular basis after removal of the lockdown be excluded from the compliances in relation to CIRP.

– New Ram Traders Vs. Rajiv Goyal – NCLT Chandigarh

NCLT considering the Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No(s).3/2020, Regulation 40C of the CIRP Regulations, 2016 and Regulation 47A of Liquidation Process Regulations, 2016 held that In the circumstances and since the facts are not disputed by the respondents and in view of the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and the NCLAT and the new Regulations issued by the IBBI, the entire lockdown period i.e. from the date of imposition of lockdown by the Government of India till the reopening of National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, on regular basis, after removal of the lockdown, be excluded, from the compliances required to be made under order dated 13.03.2020 in CA No.893/2019, passed by this Tribunal and in relation to the CIRP.
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👉 In view of a huge backlog of cases at the NCLT, the government will start identifying benches to specifically deal with insolvency and Companies Act-related matters, an official in the corporate affairs ministry said on Saturday. In this regard, the ministry will start with the NCLT benches of Delhi and Mumbai, where more than half of the country's incorporated firms are registered, K V R Murty, joint secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, said while addressing an ASSOCHAM webinar on 'Regulators' Web-Confluence on Corporate Restructuring, M&As and Joint Venture'.

"What is leading to the lag in timelines in India is the extraordinary burden that the NCLT is faced with the IBC cases, because of which there have been reports that Companies Act matters are taking longer," he said.

Murty further said that the government is increasing the bench strengths of the tribunals for faster disposal of matters.

Among other measures, he said "we are also looking at options where we could identify benches specifically for IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code)and Companies Act-related matters".

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs "will begin identifying the benches initially in Delhi and Mumbai where more than half of the incorporated companies in India are registered".

So, these are the focus cities to begin with and the government would like to expand the capability and capacity of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to handle high volume of cases, the joint secretary said.

👉 The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in a recent decision upheld the direction of the Adjudicating Authority to substitute the Interim Resolution Professional on the ground that he was an ex-employee of the Financial Creditor.

The financial creditor in the present case, State Bank of India (SBI), had initiated insolvency proceedings against one M/s. Metenere Ltd (the Corporate Debtor) before the Principal Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), New Delhi.

The Corporate Debtor objected to SBI's proposal to appoint one Mr. Shailesh Verma as the Interim Resolution Professional, since he had been a loyal employee of the Bank for 39 years and drew his pension from them since retiring in 2016.

Taking note of the Corporate Debtor's apprehension of bias, NCLT ordered SBI to substitute Verma and propose another name. Aggrieved by the same, SBI came in appeal before NCLAT.

The 3-member Bench of NCLAT, headed by Acting Chairperson, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, identified that "the sole question arising for determination in this appeal is whether an ex-employee of the 'Financial Creditor' having rendered services in the past, should not be permitted to act as 'Interim Resolution Professional' at the instance of such 'Financial Creditor', regard being had to the nature of duties to be performed by the 'Interim Resolution Professional' and the 'Resolution Professional'."

Examining him on three counts, NCLAT found Verma fit to perform the duties of a Resolution Professional.

The Corporate Debtor's argument that Verma is drawing a pension from SBI, which falls within the definition of 'salary' under the Income Tax Act (IT Act), 1961, thus making him an 'interested person' was repelled by the Bench as defying logic. It was clarified that Section 17(1) of the IT Act brought pension within the ambit of 'salary' only for the purposes of computing of income to determine tax liability.

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Economy: Foreign investors have infused over Rs 9,000 crore into the Indian equity markets in May so far amid attractive valuations of stocks and a mega block deal involving HUL. The inflow comes following a net withdrawal of Rs 6,883 crore in April and Rs 61,973 crore in March on fears of a coronavirus induced global recession.

⚫The Govt extended the validity of various motor vehicle-related documents till July 31. No additional/late fee will be charged for delays in the validation of documents pending from February.

Finance: The extension of moratorium by three months beyond May is likely to expose lenders to the risk of some borrowers having the capability to pay skipping repayments, fear bankers. 

⚫Insurance co's are bracing for large claims on account of Amphan, the cyclone which ravaged West Bengal and Orissa last week. Most of the claims are expected from property, motor and crop insurance sectors.

⚫Value erosion in PSUs can limit Govt's disinvestment target. The fall in stock prices has eroded significant value in some of the largest PSUs, which will limit receipts for the Govt. 

Current Affairs: India witnessed the biggest spike with 6,767 positive coronavirus cases and 147 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases to 131,920

⚫The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board has decided to sell 50 immovable properties in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, worth Rs 23.92 crore through a public auction.

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👉HDFC Q4 results preview: Profit may fall up to 22% in absence of dividend income

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/hdfc-q4-results-preview-profit-may-fall-up-to-22-on-absence-of-dividend-income/articleshow/75933156.cms

 
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👉 Stating that Leo Meridian Resort that defaulted banks to a tune of more than 700 crore cannot hide under the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the national company law tribunal
at Hyderabad refused to interfere in the action of the 
enforcement directorate that attached some properties belonging to Leo Meridian.

The resolution professional who was overseeing the insolvency process of the defaulter company filed a plea before NCLT questioning the attachments made by the Enforcement Directoraate after commencement of the insolvency process.

Enforcement Directorate counsel Anjali Agarwal argued that the resolution plan was not approved by the tribunal by the time they attached the properties.

More over Prevention of money laundering Act is a special law and the NCLT has no jurisdiction to interfere in the actions of ED, she said. The NCLT bench comprising Ratakonda Murali, judicial member and Narender Kumar Bhola, technical member too said that the company can not take shelter under IBC and refused any relief to Leo Meridian.


👉 An appellate tribunal upheld NCLT order prohibiting appointment of a former bank official as a resolution professional (RP) of a bankrupt company due to the possibility of bias, in a judgement that experts say could have wide ramifications on ongoing and future corporate insolvency resolution process.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) upheld an order passed by Delhi-NCLT over appointment of a former State Bank of India (SBI) official as resolution professional or RP in CIRP of Metenere Ltd.

According to experts, the ruling could have an impact on the resolutions of several companies including the Rs 40,000 crore Videocon Industries case where former bank employees are working as RPs.

The financial creditor, in this case SBI, had appointed Shailesh Verma as the interim RP while initiating CIRP against the corporate debtor, Metenere Ltd. As Verma had been associated with SBI for 39 years, retiring as chief general manager in 2016, the corporate debtor felt he was unlikely to act fairly while discharging his duties.

On January 4, the Delhi bench of the NCLT passed a judgment ordering SBI to substitute Verma as RP on the basis of an appeal of bias filed by Metenere against Verma . SBI appealed against the order in the NCLAT.

Metenere argued that Verma was an ‘interested party’ as he was drawing pension from SBI, which was considered as salary under the Income Tax Act, apart from being an ex-employee.

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👉🏻NCLAT sets aside NCLT order on making MCA party in all IBC cases
(NCLAT set aside an order of the Principal Bench of the NCLT which had directed that the MCA be made a party in all cases filed under the Section 7, 9, and 10 of the IBC)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/2WZplPg

👉🏻CBIC clears GST refund claims of Rs 11,052 Cr since April 8
(The CBIC had said that the decision to process pending refund claims has been taken with a view to provide immediate relief to the taxpayers in these difficult times)
👇🏻 👇🏻 👇🏻
https://bit.ly/2AayM5o
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👉 Completion of MCS Course and Advanced IT Course through Virtual Mode as one time measure for students of Final course exam (July, 2020 & November,2020) - (21-05-2020)
https://www.icai.org/new_post.html?post_id=16536&c_id=219

👉 PERIOD/DAYS OF EXTENSION FOR NAMES RESERVED AND RESUBMISSION OF FORMSPdf(40 KB)
http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Extension_22042020.pdf

👉 Pre-shipment and Post-shipment Export Credit – Extension of Period of Advance
https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=11904&Mode=0
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👉 The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside an order of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) which mandated the impleadment of the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) as a party in all Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) matters and Company petitions.

NCLAT was of the view that the order was tantamount to the imposition of a new rule, which was beyond the powers of NCLT. Thus, allowing the Union Government's appeal, the Tribunal held that the said order was untenable as it suffered from material irregularities and was patently illegal in the eyes of law.

"This Tribunal comes to an inevitable and irresistible conclusion that the directions issued in respect of Application No.2024/ 19 filed by the Resolution Professional to implead the 'Secretary of Ministry of Corporate Affairs' as party Respondent in all cases of I&B Code is nothing but beyond the power of the Tribunal and it tantamounts to imposition of a new rule in a compelling fashion. In short, the impugned order making it applicable throughout the country to all the Benches of the National Company Law Tribunal is untenable one and the said order suffers from material irregularity and patent illegality in the eye of Law. As a logical corollary, this Tribunal, this Tribunal set aside the impugned order dated 22.11.2019 in (IB)-939(PB)/2018 in furtherance of substantial cause of justice. Consequently, the present Appeal succeeds", ordered NCLAT.

In November 2019, the Principal Bench of NCLT had issued directions that MCA, through its Secretary, would be impleaded as a respondent party in all cases of the IBC and Company Petitions, on grounds that authentic records would then be made available by the officers of MCA for proper appreciation of the matter. The same was to be applicable throughout the country, to all the Benches of NCLT. Aggrieved by the same, the Centre preferred an appeal in NCLAT and the operation of the Order was stayed.

In its challenge, the Centre argued that NCLT could not pass an order which was in the "nature of rule", as rule making powers were the exclusive domain of the Government. Averring to the same, it was urged that the order was "bristled with numerous infirmities" as the Tribunal did not even issue a notice to the Centre before passing such an order.


👉 The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has quashed the November 22 order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that sought to implead the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) through its secretary a party respondent in all cases related to the The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

The NCLT had said making MCA a party would ensure that authentic record is made available by officers of the MCA for proper appreciation of the matters. It had also said the order would be applicable throughout the country to all the NCLT benches.

The three-member NCLAT bench, adjudicating on the MCA’s objection, said the NCLT order to “implead the secretary of Ministry of Corporate Affairs as party respondent in all cases of I&B Code is nothing but beyond the power of the tribunal and it tantamounts to imposition of a new rule in a compelling fashion. In short, the impugned order making it applicable throughout the country to all the benches of the NCLT is untenable one, and the said order suffers from material irregularity and patent illegality in the eye of Law.”

“As a logical corollary, this tribunal sets aside the impugned order. Consequently, the present appeal succeeds,” the NCLAT order, pronounced on May 22, said.

Following the NCLT’s order, the government challenged it in the NCLAT and got a stay from the tribunal in December.

Reacting to the NCLAT order, Richa Roy, partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said, “Although the MCA has been central in the implementation of the IBC, their being a party to every single IBC fillings is not only excessive but perhaps counterproductive. The NCLAT order is, therefore, a welcome decision that reaffirms the correct position.”


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