No Reference Of Disputes Before Arbitral Tribunal After Approval Of Resolution Plan

INTRODUCTION

1. The Delhi High Court vide its decision in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd v. Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India Ltd¹, has placed another addition to the series of precedents that followed the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of Essar Steel India Ltd (ESIL). In the instant case, The Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), which was an operational creditor of ESIL had filed a petition under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Act) before the Delhi High Court to constitute an Arbitral Tribunal to resolve disputes stemming from a Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) that was first signed with Essar Steel Ltd (now ESIL) and then assigned to Essar Oil Limited (EOL). The GSA dated 15.01.2009, had given rise to a disagreement, mainly on the "Take or Pay" obligation under Article 14 of the same. This provision gave IOCL the authority to demand payment from ESIL for corrective steps in the event that ESIL did not obtain the entire agreed-upon Adjusted Annual Contract Quantity.
2. The Delhi High Court observed that all outstanding debts of the Corporate Debtor were eliminated upon approval of the Resolution Plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), with the exception of those that were specifically included in the plan. The Court declared that the dispute sought in the current case could not be reintroduced before the Arbitral Tribunal since it acknowledged the acceptance of the Resolution Plan as an extinguishment of all rights, and allowing the said petition would effectively imply reopening of the Resolution Plan. Thus, using the "eye of the needle" test, the Court determined that the issues raised in the petition were unsuitable for arbitration and that it was not warranted to refer them to an Arbitral Tribunal.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISPUTE

1. By way of two Assignment Agreements between IOCL, ESIL, and EOL, together valid up to 30.09.2015, ESIL had assigned all its rights and obligations as flowing from the GSA to EOL. Then, on 04.05.2016, IOCL sent ESIL a notice about its noncompliance with the 2015 contract year's Adjusted Annual Contract Quantity ("AACQ"), and also used Article 14.1 of the GSA to demand payment.
2. Subsequently, ESIL issued a termination notice to IOCL on 10.03.2017, using the authority afforded by Article 19.1 of the GSA. IOCL challenged the termination, claiming that it had not violated its contractual responsibilities, rendering the termination notification null and void. Following that, IOCL issued a demand notice and, after failing to get payment for the same, issued a notice of dispute on 08.05.2017. After the failure of settlement talks between ESIL and IOCL, the latter invoked arbitration on 11.07.2017, in accordance with the terms of the GSA.
3. Subsequently, on 2.08.2017, the NCLT, Ahmedabad allowed insolvency petitions filed by the State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Bank against ESIL under Section 7 of the IBC. A Resolution Professional (RP) was appointed, and claims from stakeholders were invited. IOCL submitted a claim for Rs 3762 crores, however, the RP notified IOCL that the claim had been admitted for a requisite amount of Re. 1. Thereafter, on 25.10.2018, the Committee of Creditors (COC) of ESIL accepted the Resolution Plan submitted by Arcelor Mittal, which was later sanctioned by the NCLT on 8.03.2019. However, the NCLT differed with the RP in the admission of claims of the operational creditors including that of IOCL at Re. 1. This led to appeals in NCLAT whereby similar orders were passed.
4. The Supreme Court overruled the above NCLT and NCLAT orders vide Essar Steel (India) Ltd. Committee of Creditors of v. Satish Kumar Gupta² (Essar Case), approving the RP's action of admitting claims at Re. 1 and the acceptance of the Resolution Plan. On 16.12.2019, Arcelor Mittal, the successful applicant, acquired 100% of ESIL's shares. Following implementation, IOCL claimed monies in accordance with the GSA, but Arcelor Mittal denied the same. IOCL invoked arbitration by way of notice to Arcelor Mittal to appoint an arbitrator, but after receiving no response, filed the instant petition before the Delhi High Court.

DICTUM AND ANALYSIS

1. While the NCLT and NCLAT previously backed IOCL and partially reinstated its claim, the Court noted that these rulings were overturned in the Essar Case. As a result, the Court highlighted that the Resolution Plan's approval effectively eliminated all debts owed by the Corporate Debtor, except those acknowledged in the Plan. Recognizing the extinguishment of the IOCL's claims following the Plan approval and citing the dictum laid down in Ghanashyam Mishra and Sons Pvt. Ltd. v. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd³ (Ghanashyam's Case) the Court ruled that bringing the matter before the Arbitral Tribunal would essentially tamper with the clean slate established by the Resolution Plan. It emphasized that the Resolution Plan's approval formally ceased all claims against the Corporate Debtor. Claims or liabilities examined throughout the CIRP were accounted for, and no new claims may be filed against the successful applicant after the Plan is approved. The Applicant was only required to resolve claims that were accepted as part of the Resolution Plan. Allowing it differently would be a violation of the IBC's principles of a clean slate in the resolution process.
2. Further, The Court ruled that referring to disputes as the IOCL requested and allowing the Arbitral Tribunal to resolve these matters would reopen the approved Resolution Plan. The same would also be in contravention of the Supreme Court's definitive verdict in the Essar case and in Ghanshyam's Case. As a result, the Court applied the eye of the needle test, determining that the conflicts addressed in the petition were unsuitable for arbitration and, as a result, no referral to the Arbitral Tribunal was justified.
3. The key takeaways from the instant case, are (a) the reiteration of the finality of all previous claims once a Resolution Plan has been approved and the establishment of a clean slate provided to the successful Applicant; and (b) the power of the Court under Section 11 of the Act to deny the invoking of arbitration proceedings when the dispute referred is not permissible to be resolved through arbitration, even with the existence of an arbitration agreement. The Court's approach in the instant case protects the integrity of arbitration and insolvency while also recognizing the bounds of its applicability in resolving disputes.

Footnotes

1 2023 SCC OnLine Del 6318

2 (2020) 8 SCC 531

3 (2021) 9 SCC 657

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