Whether once CIRP has been stayed, Resolution Professional has to handover the charge of Corporate Debtor to Ex-management? – Mr. Mukesh Kumar Jain v. Navin Kumar Upadhyay and Anr. – NCLAT New Delhi
In this important judgment on stayed of CIRP, Hon’ble NCLAT held that:
(i) The judgment in Ashok Kumar Tyagi v. UCO Bank (2022) ibclaw.in 943 NCLAT does not lay down any proposition that when order of initiating CIRP has been stayed, the result would be to handover the Corporate Debtor to the ex-management by Resolution Professional.
(ii) Any such result of stay of the CIRP shall be disastrous since if the management against whom the CIRP has been initiated is handed over the charge, it is prone to misuse the assets and the assets shall be diminished, which may adversely affect the creditors of the Corporate Debtor.
(iii) In view of the stay of the CIRP, it is true that the Resolution Professional cannot take any further steps in the CIRP of the Corporate Debtor and has to stay his hand from proceeding any further in the CIRP and await the order of the Appellate Court.
(iv) The direction to the Resolution Professional in the impugned order to handover the Corporate Debtor to the ex-management is wholly unjustified and has to be set aside.