Don’t Let Justice Be Overruled: Honouring NCLT and NCLAT in the DHFL Debacle

Posted on 14th July, 2025 (GMT 11:29 hrs)

ABSTRACT

In the long and convoluted journey of the DHFL insolvency saga, two quasi-judicial bodies—NCLT and NCLAT—stood out for their timely, bold, and procedurally sound interventions. From directing a reconsideration of the 100% offer to identifying discriminatory irregularities in the resolution process, these tribunals prioritized justice over expediency. This post is both a thanksgiving and a public appeal: NCLT and NCLAT must not allow their principled findings to be buried by later Supreme Court overruling. In an era of post-truth, let institutional memory resist judicial amnesia.

In Connection With

To

The Hon’ble Members,

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), New Delhi

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai

Subject: Grateful Acknowledgement and Request for Upholding Judicial Integrity in the DHFL Resolution Matter

Hon’ble Members and Representatives,

We, the affected stakeholders and members of civil society, write to extend our sincere gratitude to both the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for your principled, courageous, and procedurally sound interventions in the matter of DHFL’s corporate resolution.

On 19 May 2021, the NCLT issued a potentially significant order directing the reconsideration of Mr. Wadhawan’s 100% offer within 10 days—a move that upheld the legal obligation toward value maximization and fairness to all stakeholders, including countless retail depositors, including senior citizens. This order was stayed by the NCLAT within six days (25 May 2021) upon hearing the hurried appeal by Mr. Ajay Piramal and the RBI-appointed CoC for DHFL, we recognize the unprecedented urgency with which this appellate body acted, while lakhs of cases remain pending in the Indian courts. Does that mean Mr. Piramal and the CoC are more equal than others⤡?

We are deeply indebted to the NCLAT’s order of 27 January 2022, which deemed the resolution plan and process illegal, while exposing a multitude of material irregularities in the same. This order boldly challenged the 45,000 crore=1 rupee equation in the alleged takeover of DHFL by Mr. Piramal. The NCLAT’s robust reliance on the arguments presented by 63 Moons and others demonstrated a judicial conscience that is unafraid to confront opacity, crony collusion, or systemic exclusion. These findings stand as a landmark in the evolution of India’s insolvency jurisprudence.

We are, however, deeply concerned that the subsequent intervention by the Hon’ble Supreme Court—particularly the stay order dated 1 March 2022, followed by a final verdict given by the bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi—may cast a chilling effect on quasi-judicial courage and institutional independence. The reversal appears to have privileged corporate expediency over constitutional morality and depositor justice.

In this context, we respectfully appeal to your Hon’ble institutions to:

• Stand by your well-reasoned past orders, which were grounded in legal principle and public interest.
• Resist any pressures—explicit or implicit to the present structures of Indian political economy—that seek to erase, bypass, or undermine your earlier fact-based findings.
• Continue to serve as forums of fairness, especially when financial injustice is inflicted upon common citizens in the name of expedient resolutions.

In a post-truth society where public memory is short and institutional memory is under siege, your earlier judgments represent a beacon of accountability. We thank you for them, and we urge you to uphold them in spirit, if not in letter.

With sincere gratitude and democratic hope,

The Members of Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

On Behalf of all the distressed DHFL Victims
[Usual Disclaimers Apply]