The heavily indebted realty firm, Nirmal Lifestyle (Mulund) Pvt Ltd, has seen one of its secured creditors, SREI Equipment Finance Ltd, withdraw its appeal to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). This withdrawal follows the resolution applicant’s clarification that the contested mortgaged property is not part of the approved plan.
In April, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal approved the acquisition of Nirmal Lifestyle (Mulund) by Pune-based developer, Mantra Properties and Developers Pvt Ltd. The company carries liabilities totaling Rs 1,491 crore, while the bidder proposed Rs 215 crore under the resolution plan to reinstate the firm.
Following this, SREI Equipment Finance approached the appellate tribunal, represented by senior counsels Gopal Jain and Ativ Patel of AVP Partners, arguing that the plan improperly incorporated a property exclusively mortgaged to them.
The counsels stated that the asset was secured through a mortgage deed executed on September 18, 2019, involving two loans of Rs 84.2 crore each. They contended that the property should not have been incorporated into the resolution plan without hearing their arguments.
Akshay Petkar, representing Mantra Properties, clarified that the disputed land, identified as Nirmal Olympia II, was not included within the approved resolution plan’s scope.
The division bench, comprising judicial member Justice Yogesh Khanna and technical member Naresh Salecha, allowed SREI to withdraw its application challenging the resolution plan’s approval and closed the appeal.
Nirmal Lifestyle was admitted under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in July 2023, upon an application by Beacon Trusteeship Ltd. The company has only two secured financial creditors: Beacon Trusteeship, with acknowledged liabilities of Rs 902 crore and a 60.54% stake in the Committee of Creditors (CoC), and Assets Care and Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd, with a debt of Rs 589 crore and a 39.46% share.
The resolution professional (RP) received three plans, including those from successful bidder Mantra Properties and Developers, Vasavi Realty Pvt Ltd, and Sardarmal Prithviraj Constructions Private Limited, partnering with ex-promoter Mr. Dharmesh Sardarmal Jain of the Corporate Debtor.
