NCLAT adjourns hearing on Vedanta Ltd’s plea against selection of Adani’s bid for JAL

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday adjourned the hearing on petitions filed by the Vedanta Group challenging the selection of Adani Enterprises’ bid for debt-laden Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) to April 16.

The matter was deferred due to a change in the bench composition following the unavailability of one member.

The tribunal was scheduled to hear concluding arguments from Vedanta before lenders and the resolution professional began their

submissions. After discussions with parties, the case was listed for Thursday.

Vedanta has questioned the evaluation criteria used by JAL’s lenders, arguing that the process undermined the “commercial wisdom” of the committee of creditors (CoC).

The group has filed two appeals against the March 17 order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which approved Adani Enterprises Ltd Rs 14,535 crore resolution plan.

Earlier, on March 24, NCLAT declined to stay the NCLT order but ruled that the resolution plan would remain subject to the outcome of Vedanta’s appeals.

The interim order was later challenged in the Supreme Court of India, which also refused to grant a stay, while directing that any major policy decision by the monitoring committee must receive tribunal approval.

In the bidding process, Adani Enterprises secured 89 per cent of creditor votes, ahead of Vedanta and Dalmia Bharat.

The committee of creditors has defended its decision, stating that bids were assessed on multiple parameters such as upfront cash, feasibility, and execution, not just overall value.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd was admitted to insolvency proceedings in June 2024 after defaulting on loans worth Rs 57,185 crore.

The company has diversified assets across real estate, cement, hospitality, power, and infrastructure, including major projects in the Delhi-NCR region and cement plants in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.