Home Efficacy of Adjudication Process of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP): Law and Economics of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Efficacy of Adjudication Process of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP): Law and Economics of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

  • Hiteshkumar Thakkar ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Pranay Agarwal and Urmi Shah
Published/Copyright: May 22, 2023
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) form the backbone of the institutional setup of the corporate law mechanism. The tribunals though were initially given a minimal role in the judicial procedure of the corporate world and were seen with scepticism, their significance could not be ignored for long. With the increase in insolvency disputes, the NCLTs were even given the jurisdiction to handle the cases regarding the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) . However, the efficiency of these tribunals has to be inspected with respect to CIRP cases for knowing the clear picture. In this paper, an economic analysis of the working of the NCLT Ahmedabad is undertaken to get a better understanding of the efficiency of the NCLTs in general. The study relies on qualitative tools such as interviewers conducted by relevant stakeholders and observing NCLT court proceedings to capture the measurement reality of NCLT efficiency. The study also relies on descriptive statistics of time taken and recovery to measure the efficacy of NCLT.


Corresponding author: Dr. Hiteshkumar Thakkar, Assistant Professor of Economics, Gujarat National Law University, GNLU Centre for Law and Economics, Gandhinagar, 382426, Gujarat, India, E-mail:

Funding source: GNLU Faculty Seed Grant Programme (2022–2023)

Award Identifier / Grant number: 200000/- INR (AC-TEB1.2.P4)

Annexure

See Annexures 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Annexure 1:

Realization of the claims by the financial creditors as approved by the NCLTs between 2017–22. Source – IBBI QY Reports (1st QY 2017 – 3rd QY 2022).

Realisation by FCs (in % of claims filed) Ahmedabad Mumbai New Delhi Kolkata
Mean 34.19110295 33.15621377 45.97307563 35.04587785
Median 26.24332368 24.02940734 41.86319472 23.8289851
Mode #N/A 100 100 100
Standard deviation 29.61549964 30.07360483 33.32058358 32.03016247
Range 106.3063063 107.6341997 145.0818295 111.5479076
Minimum 0 0.055800294 0.560372304 0.279484705
Maximum 106.3063063 107.69 145.6422018 111.8273923
Sum 1777.937354 3381.933805 4045.630655 3013.945495
Count 52 102 88 86
Realisation by FCs (in % of liquidation value) Ahmedabad Mumbai New Delhi Kolkata
Mean 130.738362 709.5265932 330.992187 1350.836644
Median 113.7193166 120.9472881 110.8675943 113.0745448
Mode #N/A 98.72167345 100 95.01738123
Standard deviation 75.07986308 5512.897612 950.9721065 11,195.46133
Range 438.93 55,799.80612 6574.718615 102,729.5348
Minimum 29.58 0.193877551 33.33333333 5
Maximum 468.51 55,800 6608.051948 102,734.5348
Sum 6536.918101 72,371.71251 29,127.31246 113,470.2781
Count 50 102 88 84
Annexure 2:

Time taken by the Ahmedabad branch of NCLT (in days) to resolve the insolvency cases successfully between 2017–22. First table shows the average time taken while the second table indicates the quantum of days taken. Source – IBBI QY Reports (1st QY 2017 – 3rd QY 2022).

Days taken
Mean 573.22807
Median 558
Mode 637
Standard deviation 215.99951
Range 1205
Minimum 191
Maximum 1396
Number of days Number of cases
Within 180 days 0
181–270 days 2
271–330 days 4
More than 330 days 51
Total cases 57
Annexure 3:

Comparative analysis of the time taken by NCLTs in various cities (in days) to resolve the insolvency cases successfully between 2017–22. The first table shows the quantum of days taken whereas the average time taken. Source – IBBI QY Reports (1st QY 2017 – 3rd QY 2022). Source – IBBI QY Reports (1st QY 2017 – 3rd QY 2022).

Number of days Ahmedabad Mumbai New Delhi Kolkata Hyderabad
Within 180 days 0 0 0 3 1
181–270 days 2 7 2 10 2
271–330 days 4 7 9 19 5
More than 330 days 51 97 86 57 47
Total number of cases 57 111 97 89 55
Days taken Ahmedabad Mumbai New Delhi Kolkata Hyderabad
Mean 573.228 618.820 607.980 480.157 539.218
Median 558 573 553 440 545
Mode 637 850 293 323 #N/A
Standard deviation 215.200 277.228 258.288 233.211 209.431
Range 1205 1232 1380 1022 933
Minimum 191 185 184 175 105
Maximum 1396 1417 1564 1197 1038
Sum 32,674 68,689 58,974 42,734 29,657
Count 57 111 97 89 55
Annexure 4:

The table shows the cases dealt by all benches of NCLT year wise between 2017–22. Source – IBBI QY Reports (1st QY 2017 – 3rd QY 2022).

NCLT city 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
Ahmedabad 3 8 13 22 11 57
Allahabad 1 1 3 4 3 12
Amravati 5 5 10
Bengaluru 1 4 7 6 3 2 23
Chandigarh 10 6 11 5 3 35
Chennai 11 20 6 4 10 51
Cuttack 1 8 4 13
Guwahati 2 1 3 4 10
Hyderabad 2 4 14 9 20 6 55
Indore 2 2
Jaipur 1 2 4 3 10
Kochi 3 4 7
Kolkata 3 19 16 15 21 15 89
Mumbai 2 16 30 23 28 12 111
New Delhi 1 7 21 25 26 17 97
Grand total 10 76 125 120 154 97 582

References

Alok, S., A. Kuvalekar, R. Mantri, and P. Tantri. 2020. The Effective and Efficient: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/effective-and-efficient-the-insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code-indian-banks-7881007/ (accessed January 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Bangar, S. 2020. “A Concise History of Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Debt Restructuring Laws in India.” Journal of Decision Makers 45 (2): 119–22.Search in Google Scholar

Chamberlin, E. H. 1948. “Proportionality, Divisibility and Economies of Scale.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 62 (2): 229–62. https://doi.org/10.2307/1883221.Search in Google Scholar

Chatterjee, S., G. Sheikh, B. Zaveri, and P. A. Kyriacou. 2018. “An Empirical Analysis of the Early Days of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.” National Law School of India Review 30: 1–54. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.23.7.075005.Search in Google Scholar

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. 2022. IBC – Ideas, Impressions and Implementation. IBBI. https://ibbi.gov.in/uploads/whatsnew/b5fba368fbd5c5817333f95fbb0d48bb.pdf (accessed January 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. 2021. Report of the Working Group on Tracking Outcomes under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. IBBI. https://ibbi.gov.in/uploads/whatsnew/4b74947e21c8b01f95bdcb348635ece5.pdf (accessed January 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Kukreti, A. 2021. “Insolvency Reforms in India: History, Growth and Cross Border Issues.” International Journal of Law Management and Humanities 4 (3): 2820–41.Search in Google Scholar

Kaushik, S. 2020a. “National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Indian Company Law Regime.” Supremo Amicus 22: 93–105.Search in Google Scholar

Kalirajan, K. P. 1990. “On Measuring Economic Efficiency.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 5 (1): 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.3950050106.Search in Google Scholar

Kaushik, A. 2020b. Is IBC 2016 Effective? NITI Aayog. https://www.niti.gov.in/ibc-2016-effective (accessed January 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Khatri, N. 2020. “Role of Adjudicatory Authority in Approving/Rejecting Insolvency Resolution Plans with Global Practices.” International Journal of Law Management and Humanities 3 (3): 1445–54.Search in Google Scholar

Kokorin, I. 2021. “The Rise of ‘Group Solution’ in Insolvency Law and Bank Resolution.” European Business Organization Law Review 22: 781–811. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40804-021-00220-4.Search in Google Scholar

Morgan Stanley. 2022. India’s Impending Economic Bloom. https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investment-opportunities-in-india (accessed January 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Regy, P., and S. Roy. 2017. “Understanding Judicial Delays in Debt Tribunals.” In Working Paper No. 195. New Delhi: National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. https://www.nipfp.org.in/media/medialibrary/2017/05/WP_2017_195.pdf.Search in Google Scholar

Sahoo, M. S. 2020. Moving Up ‘Ease of Resolving Insolvency’. The Hindu. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/moving-up-in-ease-of-resolving-insolvency/article30992998.ece (accessed January 18, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Sita, K. 2012. “Mumbai: The Financial Capital of India.” In Urbanisation in South Asia: Focus on Megacities, edited by R. P. Misra. London: Foundation Books.10.1017/9789382993087.004Search in Google Scholar

Sharma, J. P. 2022. Five Years of Jaypee Infratech Insolvency Case: Why Do Homebuyers End up as the Biggest Losers? Outlook India. https://www.outlookindia.com/business/five-years-of-jaypee-infratech-insolvency-case-why-do-homebuyers-end-up-as-the-biggest-losers–news-218988 (accessed January 23, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Singh, R., and H. Thakkar. 2021. “Settlements and Resolutions under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19.” Indian Economic Journal 69 (3): 568–83.10.1177/00194662211013218Search in Google Scholar

Trivedi, P., and A. Sheikh. 2019. “Essar Steel Insolvency Case: Essar Steel India Limited through Authorised Signatory vs. Satish Kumar Gupta & Ors (Judgment Dated 15.11.2019 in Civil Appeal No. 8766-67 of 2019).” International Journal of Law Management & Humanities 2 (5): 133–8.Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2023-05-22

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 13.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ajle-2023-0015/html
Scroll to top button