HYDERABAD: In an interesting development, a Swiss company dragged Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (NFCL) to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Hyderabad over Rs 20 crore dues owed to it by the latter.
Though NFCL owed over Rs 1,800 crore to a consortium of banks led by IDBI, none of them could move forward because the company approached the high court earlier and secured a protection order. The HC, in its earlier order, had directed the banks not to take any coercive action.
While this was pending, Keytrade AG, a Swiss company, filed an insolvency petition before NCLT for enforcement of arbitral award to the tune of Rs 20 crore. This arbitral award was earlier upheld by the high court and the Supreme Court. When NFCL failed to make the payment despite several opportunities, NCLT admitted the petition filed by Keytrade AG and ordered the initiation of the corporate insolvency process against the fertiliser company. Shocked by the development, NFCL approached the high court, which refused to interfere in the light of a statutory remedy existing to attend to such problems.
Accordingly, the company promoter then rushed to NCLAT.
