The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed the Committee of Creditors of Bhushan Power and Steel to file its response in petition to the objection raised by the UK-based Liberty House.

NCLT was hearing the Liberty House petition against the creditors for not opening its financial bid submitted on February 20 for Bhushan Power and Steel after the deadline of February 8.

The next hearing has been fixed on March 5.

Liberty House has claimed that its bid is valid as it was submitted within the 270-day time-frame stipulated by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Reacting to the development, a Liberty House spokesperson said the Tribunal has heard the company and RP’s submissions, besides the intervention made by Tata's counsel (Tata Steel has emerged as the highest bidder for Bhushan Power).

“The Tribunal has deemed it fit that the respondents (CoC and RP) put their submissions on affidavit explaining conduct of the insolvency process. We are hopeful that our bonafide will stand out,” she said.

Liberty House has moved the NCLT on February 22 following the rejection of its bid. Liberty House had said the committee of creditors should have the final right to reject the bid and not the resolution professional.

Two other bidders, who submitted the bids for Bhushan Power before the deadline, are JSW Steel and Tata Steel.

As per the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, cases once admitted by NCLT are supposed to be resolved in 270 days, if not, then the company will go into liquidation.

During the resolution process, the management control is vested with the NCLT- appointed resolution professional from promoters.

Unlisted Bhushan Power and Steel owes about ₹37,000 crore to a consortium of lenders led by state-run Punjab National Bank and is among the 12 large companies identified by the Reserve Bank of India for insolvency resolution.

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