While deciding a petition filed in Foresight Innovations Pvt. Ltd. v. Future Enterprises Ltd., the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”), comprised of Shri H.V. Subba Rao (Judicial Member) and Smt. Anuradha Sanjay Bhatia (Technical Member), has given notice to Future Enterprises Ltd. in a petition under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 The following hearing date is August 26, 2022.
Future Enterprises Ltd. (“FEL”) is a member of the Future Group of businesses, which Mr. Kishore Biyani leads and has long dominated India’s retail industry. FEL serves as the backbone and connects the retail arm with its infrastructure while Future Retail Limited takes care of the front end. For the Future Group, FEL creates, owns, and rents the retail infrastructure. The Future Group’s stakes in subsidiaries and joint ventures, such as those in insurance, textile production, supply chain, and logistics, are also held by FEL.
On July 20, 2012, the NCLT Mumbai Bench allowed Future Retail Ltd., the flagship firm of the Future Group, into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). Future Retail Ltd. operates well-known retail brands such as Big Bazaar, Foodhall, Easyday Club, and WH Smith.
With regard to an alleged default of Rs. 1,58,78,942/-, Foresight Innovations Pvt. Ltd. filed a petition under Section 9 of the IBC before the NCLT, Mumbai Bench, in April 2022. The NCLT Bench had given notice to FEL when the matter was initially listed on April 28, 2022. The action was continued until July 27, 2022, for the purpose of making an ex-parte order against FEL, after the NCLT Bench noted that service to FEL had been completed on the next day of hearing on July 1, 2022. The matter was postponed to 26.08.2022 on July 27, 2022.
According to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, FEL disclosed in a regulatory filing dated August 17, 2222 that Foresight Innovations Pvt. Ltd. had petitioned the NCLT Mumbai Bench under Section 9 of the IBC to start a CIRP against FEL for an alleged default of Rs. 1,58,78,942/-.
Case Title: Foresight Innovations Pvt. Ltd. v Future Enterprises Ltd., C.P.(IB)-513(MB)/2022
Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Sushil Aggarwal.
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