Bombay High Court Approves Transfer of Mehul Choksi's Gili India Limited Case to NCLT

The Bombay High Court has granted permission for a consortium of banks, led by Punjab National Bank, to transfer a pending winding-up petition against diamond trader Mehul Choksi's company, Gili India Limited, to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The court emphasized the necessity of reviving the company in the interest of stakeholders. It stated that the facts of the case support the need for the company's revival, aligning with the objectives of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which could facilitate the company's recovery.

A company named Aanchal Collections Limited filed a petition for the winding up of Gili India Limited in 2014. In 2018, the High Court issued a winding-up order, leading to the appointment of an official liquidator. Subsequently, the banks filed an interim application to transfer the company petition to the NCLT under Section 434(1)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013. The banks had previously provided approximately ₹400 crore in working capital facilities to the now-defunct jewelry company and alleged that Gili India Limited, part of the Gitanjali group, committed large-scale fraud, which has been reported to the CBI and is subject to proceedings before the Debt Recovery Tribunal and NCLT.

Representatives for PNB, advocates Payal Upadhyay and Anant Upadhyay, argued that as secured creditors, transferring the case to the NCLT would be more beneficial for claim recovery under the IBC framework. They also noted that no irreversible steps have been taken since the winding-up order was issued in September 2018. The official liquidator did not oppose the transfer.