NCLT dismisses Ex-Employee’s 18 Month delayed Salary Claims in Yes Bank Insolvency Case [Read Order]
The employees had previously raised their grievances with the RP, but no actionable material was found.
The Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed six interlocutory applications filed by former employees of Yes Bank Limited, holding their claims for salary dues, provident fund, and other benefits were time-barred and filed after the corporate resolution plan had already been approved.
The Tribunal, comprising Judicial Member K.R. Saji Kumar and Technical Member Anil Raj Chellan, emphasized that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process is strictly time-bound. The claims were filed nearly 18 months after the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) commenced against Yes Bank and subsequent to the approval of a resolution plan by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) on two occasions.
The bench noted that such claims are barred under Regulation 12(1) and 13(1B) of the CIRP Regulations, which mandate that claims be submitted within a specified period.
The Applicants submitted that they were employees of the CD prior to the commencement of its CIRP on 12.04.2022. Mr. Shailen Shah was appointed as the resolution professional earlier. The Applicants contended that the HR representative of the CD, Ms. Sonal Kalamkar, vide email dated 25.10.2023, forwarded Form E claims of the Applicants along with salary slips and supporting documents to the erstwhile RP.
The applicants had argued that they were unaware of the CIRP proceedings and were facing severe hardship without their dues. However, the Resolution Professional (RP), Ravi Sethia, contended that the applications were a strategic attempt by the ex-promoters to obstruct the insolvency resolution process.
The Tribunal agreed with the RP, observing that the employees had previously raised their grievances with the RP, but no actionable material was found. The NCLT relied on Supreme Court precedents to caution against allowing the IBC process to become an endless saga, thereby undermining its objective of a time-bound resolution.
It was evident that there exists a substantial delay of 18 months in the submission of the claims by the Applicants. The Resolution Plan has now been approved by the COC for the second time, and IA (Plan) No. 86 of 2025 has been filed, seeking approval of the same by this Adjudicating Authority.
Further, arguments on IA (Plan) No. 86 of 2025 have already been completed and it now stands reserved for orders on 25.08.2025. Therefore, the Applicants cannot be allowed to put a spoke in the wheels of the CIRP of the CD with their belated claims.
The NCLT dismissed all six applications as being unmaintainable.
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