Polycab India Limited can return to board-led operations after India’s National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside an insolvency order, finding a payment dispute predated the supplier’s demand.
The decision reverses the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Ahmedabad Bench’s Oct. 7 admission of Asier Metals Private Limited’s petition and ends the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Polycab. The ruling restores Polycab’s ability to operate under its board, effective immediately.
Asier Metals claimed ₹27,870,157.22, equivalent to ₹27.87 million or about ₹2.79 crore, chiefly for aluminum ingot supplies. It issued a statutory demand notice dated Aug. 6 and filed a petition under Section 9 of India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on Aug. 24. The NCLT admitted the petition and appointed an interim resolution professional on Oct. 7.
The appellate tribunal considered earlier exchanges about credit notes, discounts, provisional invoices, detention and demurrage charges, and account reconciliation. Its record included Polycab’s Jan. 19 request for an ₹8 million adjustment and a July 22 email disputing the claimed balance and referring to credit notes that remained pending.
Polycab sent an initial response to the demand on Aug. 19 and a detailed reply on Sept. 2, after Asier Metals had filed its petition. The NCLAT considered those responses alongside earlier correspondence, which it found showed the dispute existed before the statutory notice. It also applied the Supreme Court’s approach in Mobilox Innovations Pvt. Ltd. v. Kirusa Software Pvt. Ltd. to assess whether a plausible dispute existed at the insolvency-admission stage.
The NCLAT set aside the admission order and related insolvency orders. It did not determine the final account balance or establish whether Polycab owes any amount, and the ruling records no payment or settlement.
