Belated amendment and insolvency challenge rejected where pleadings were complete and liquidation had already been ordered.
A belated amendment seeking to alter a pending insolvency application was refused because pleadings were complete, the matter was ready for hearing, and the proposed change would have altered the character of the proceeding by introducing new facts. A later attempt to assail the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, Committee of Creditors meetings, and liquidation decision also failed because the challenge was delayed, the applicant had not participated in the relevant process, and the insolvency course had already progressed to liquidation. The proceeding was dismissed with costs, and the liquidation process remained undisturbed.
Issues: (i) Whether the amendment application seeking to alter the pending application could be allowed at a belated stage after pleadings were complete and the matter was ripe for hearing. (ii) Whether the applicant could successfully assail the conduct of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, the Committee of Creditors meetings, and the liquidation decision at that stage.
Issue (i): Whether the amendment application seeking to alter the pending application could be allowed at a belated stage after pleadings were complete and the matter was ripe for hearing.
Analysis: The requested amendment was found to be sought at a delayed stage and would have changed the character of the pending proceeding by introducing new facts. The pleadings had already been completed, and the matter was ready for hearing. The liquidation process was also required to be completed within a stipulated period, making the proposed amendment unsuitable for allowance.
Conclusion: The amendment application was not allowed.
Issue (ii): Whether the applicant could successfully assail the conduct of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, the Committee of Creditors meetings, and the liquidation decision at that stage.
Analysis: The challenge was held to be belated and unsupported by participation in the relevant process. The applicant, being a shareholder, was not treated as entitled to reopen the concluded course of the insolvency process in the manner attempted. The earlier order admitting the insolvency application had already been carried in appeal and no relief had been obtained. The decision of the Committee of Creditors to proceed with liquidation was treated as having been taken in the course of the insolvency framework and the subsequent liquidation order had already been passed.
Conclusion: The challenge to the insolvency process and liquidation decision failed.
Final Conclusion: The proceeding was dismissed with costs, and the liquidation process was left undisturbed.
Ratio Decidendi: A belated challenge that seeks to change the nature of a pending insolvency application after completion of pleadings, and to reopen the completed insolvency and liquidation process, is not entertainable.
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