Numetal ineligible to bid for Essar: Arcelor to SC

ArcelorMittal on Thursday told the Supreme Court that its rival bidder Numetal was not eligible to bid for Essar Steel on several grounds, including that it was a "shell company" created by a firm in which Essar group promoters had majority shares. ArcelorMittal India (AMI), which has made a bid of ~420 billion for Essar, raised various objections before a Bench of Justices

R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra regarding the eligibility of Numetal to bid for the debtridden Essar and alleged that Arora Enterprises Ltd (AEL), whose majority shares were with Rewant Ruia, had created Numetal. Numetal, a consortium of Russia's VTB-JSW, has also filed an appeal challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order allowing ArcelorMittal to take part in the bid and alleged that the firm stood disqualified due non-deposition of the money. The NCLAT had asked ArcelorMittal to clear the stigma of defaulter by clearing the dues of Uttam Galva Steels and KSS Petron in which it had shares.

SC initiates debate on preventing delays

Amid flooding of cases in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and NCLAT, the Supreme Court today initiated a debate on ways to prevent delays in insolvency resolution of debt-ridden companies due to continued adjudication, saying all delays “must stop”.