IBC provisions on insolvency of personal guarantor: Supreme Court expresses inclination to transfer all petitions to itself, reserves order

The Supreme Court today reserved its order in a batch of petitions filed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) seeking transfer of all writ petitions assailing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provisions on insolvency of personal guarantors pending before High Courts to the Apex Court..The Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi, after a brief hearing on the issue of transfer, reserved its order while expressing its inclination to allow the plea. The Court indicated that a detailed order may be passed tomorrow..IBBI had sought the transfer of all the matters to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the question of law raised in all the writ petitions before various High Courts concerned provisions in the IBC and in order to avoid conflicting rulings by different Constitutional Courts, it would be appropriate for the Supreme Court to hear the pleas. This position of IBBI was voiced by Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan today..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing State Bank of India, submitted that the issue under question in the various writ petitions is a national issue and does not affect the writ petitioners before the High Courts inter se. Thus, the Apex Court must hear the question of law, Mehta submitted..Of the pending writ petitions, the maximum number of petitions remain pending before the Delhi High Court, before which the matter is expected to be taken up for final hearing on November 10. The Delhi High Court had also passed an interim order in that batch of petitions, which also includes a petition by Anil Ambani..Delhi HC stays IBC proceedings Anil Ambani for being personal guarantor; Issues notice in challenge to provisions on personal insolvency.While some counsel for various respondents argued in favour of the High Courts deciding the issue first, there were some who proposed that the pending matters from the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Telangana High Court may be transferred to the Delhi High Court since it is already seized of the matter. A submission was also made questioning IBBI's stance in seeking this transfer..After hearing all sides, the Court reserved its order, indicating that it may be pronounced on Thursday. The Court hinted at allowing the transfer while not interfering with the interim orders..The Supreme Court had recently agreed to consider the plea filed by IBBI seeking transfer of a batch of petitions challenging the IBC provisions relating to insolvency of personal guarantors..Challenges to these provisions, pending before various High Courts, are all sought to be transferred to the Supreme Court. Among these are the petition to transfer Anil Ambani's case concerning his personal guarantee from the Delhi High Court to the Apex Court..IBBI, while enumerating the writ petitions that remained pending in various High Courts as of now, also apprehended that similar petitions are likely to be filed in the future..In relation to some of these pending pleas, the petitioners had secured interim orders from the High Courts..The Delhi High Court recently stayed the insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani in his capacity as a guarantor. This stay was declined to be vacated by the Supreme Court and thus remains to be in force currently.