The National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal on Thursday admitted a petition filed by banks against the
NCLT order which had directed Jaiprakash Associates to return nearly 760 acres
of land to its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech.
A two-member bench headed by
Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya also issued notices to the resolution
professional (RP) of the company over the petition filed by three lenders --
Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and ICICI Bank. The bench fixed July 13 as the
next date of hearing.
During the proceedings, the
appellate tribunal observed that the adjudicating authority (NCLT) does not
have jurisdiction to declare any instrument illegal.
NCLAT was hearing the appeal over
the order of the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT),
which had asked debt-ridden Jaiprakash Associates Ltd to return nearly 760
acres of land to its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech, declaring the transfer of the
land as “fraudulent” and “undervalued”.
NCLT had directed JP Group’s
flagship firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) to release and discharge interest
created over the land to lenders including ICICI Bank.
The order had come on a petition
filed by Jaypee Infratech’s resolution professional (RP) Anuj Jain in the NCLT
seeking direction over transactions entered into by the company’s promoters
creating mortgage on 858 acres of land to secure debt for JAL.
