If workers are not specifically includes in the list of Stakeholders, under Liquidation Regulation 31, they cannot be made a part of the SCC under Regulation 31A(1) of Liquidation Process Regulations – Varrsana Employee Welfare Association Vs. Anil Goel, The Liquidator of Varrsana Ispat Ltd. – NCLAT New Delhi
NCLAT held that Regulation 31A flows from 31 and has to be read together and interpreted in its truest sense keeping the objective of the Code. Read congruously, Regulations 31 & 31A specify that when the Employees have no subsisting Claim, they cannot be included in the list of Stakeholders, thereby meaning that if the Workers are not specifically includes in the list of Stakeholders, under Regulation 31, they cannot be made a part of the SCC under Regulation 31A(1).
It also held that Claim of Gratuity is payable only at a future date in the happening of any event like retirement, resignation, termination, death, etc., and therefore, it cannot be construed as a Claim subsisting to be included in the list of Stakeholders and consequently seeking a place in the SCC.