ET has reviewed the contents of the NCLT order. The home financier has claimed that Chandra is personally liable to settle a ₹170-crore loan that a real estate company not directly related to him had obtained and for which he had stood guarantor.
ET had first reported on March 10 that Indiabulls Housing Finance had initiated insolvency proceedings against Chandra, claiming he had personally guaranteed loans taken by a company that had borrowed money from it. The deed of personal guarantee was signed in December 2018, according to financier’s submissions. The financier had informed court that since the loan condition hadn’t been met by borrower, it was invoking the guarantee provided by Zee Group founder.
Indiabulls Housing Finance is being represented by senior advocate Krishnendu Datta in the court proceedings.
Chandra’s lawyer Arun Kathpalia has argued that as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the insolvency of individuals has to be dealt with by the debt recovery tribunals and not NCLT.
However, NCLT judges Abni Ranjan Kumar Sinha and LN Gupta dismissed Chandra’schallenge and have appointed Raj KamalSaraogi as a resolution professional to look into Indiabull’s claims.
“The disputes with Indiabulls Housing Finance have been pending in arbitration since year 2019,” a statement from Subhash Chandra’s office said. “The matter in NCLT is also under dispute. As the matters are sub-judice, we would not like to comment anything further on the same.”
