Videocon's Insolvency: Supreme Court Rejects Dhoot's Plea To Stop Lenders From Handling Foreign Assets

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain Venugopal Dhoot’s plea seeking to halt insolvency-ridden Videocon Industries Ltd.’s lenders from dealing with foreign oil and gas assets of other Videocon Group companies.

Appearing for Dhoot, senior advocate Akhil Sibal told the court that they have been repeatedly seeking a status quo on its foreign oil and gas assets, but the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has failed to decide the issue.

It was their contention that if the lenders are not stopped from dealing with the foreign oil and gas assets, then by the time the appellate tribunal decides the plea, their cause of action will become infructuous.

It was contended that the appellate tribunal has resorted to hearing the case like a 'mini-trial.’

However, the top court refused to entertain Dhoot’s plea, citing that the appellate tribunal is already hearing the matter and it is not apt for the court to step in at this point.

The dispute pertains to the insolvency resolution process of debt-ridden Videocon Industries Ltd., a subsidiary of the Videocon Group. The company was founded by Venugopal Dhoot in 1979.

In 2020, the National Company Law Tribunal had directed the resolution professional of Videocon Industries Ltd. to consider and treat all assets, properties (tangible and intangible), rights, claims, benefits of VOVL Ltd., Videocon Hydrocarbon Holdings Ltd., Videocon Energy Brasil Ltd., and Videocon Indonesia Nunukan Inc. as assets and properties of Videocon Industries for the purpose of the insolvency process.

In an appeal against this order, the NCLAT directed the exclusion of foreign oil and gas assets from Videocon Industries’ insolvency process.

However, despite the same, the committee of creditors of VOVL Ltd., another debt-ridden Videocon Group company, has been dealing with the foreign oil and gas assets solely to deprive the Videocon Industries of the same, Dhoot’s plea stated.

In his plea, Dhoot contended that the NCLAT’s order excluding the foreign oil and gas assets will be rendered ineffective if VOVL’s committee of creditors is allowed to deal with the said foreign oil and gas assets by considering and approving the resolution plan.

Dhoot alleged that the entire resolution process of Videocon Industries will be jeopardised if an interim stay on the inclusion of foreign oil and gas assets is not granted.