Supreme Court reinstates brand identity of Minosha India

Noting that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) acted in excess of jurisdiction, the apex Court observed that both NCLAT and NCLT cannot overstep CoC’s decision, since the matter doesn’t fall within the limited scope of Sections 30 and 31 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), thereby dismissing the NCLAT order which was in favour of KIAL. 

Earlier, Minosha India (formerly Ricoh India) had appealed against the NCLAT judgment while supporting the conduct of the Resolution Professional (RP) in bringing about a quick insolvency process approved by the majority of CoC.

The resolution plan submitted by a consortium, led by Kalpraj Dharamshi and Rekha Jhunjhunwala, was approved by NCLT in November 2019, and the implementation had commenced. While the case was being heard and the order was reserved at NCLAT, there was no restraint on the implementation of the resolution plan by Kalpraj Dharamshi and Rekha Jhunjhunwala. 

The decision of CoC was accepted by a thumping majority of 84.36%, while dissenting KIAL was favoured by the lone Kotak Bank with only 0.97% voting rights. Subsequently, in 2020, Registrar of Companies issued a certificate of the change in name from Ricoh India to Minosha India.

Atul Thakker, managing director of Minosha India, said, “Truth has prevailed. Our respect and faith in the judicial process has been vindicated. The decision upholds the primary of the commercial wisdom of the CoC. With this judgment, all doubts about our ownership and continuity have been put to rest.”

Post this judgement, Minosha India will set in motion a course of action to implement its growth plan.