The NCLT has approved a personal insolvency plan for Subhash Chandra, allowing a settlement of ₹6.5 crore against total admitted claims of ₹22,006.57 crore. This ruling offers creditors a recovery rate of roughly 0.03%, marking a conclusion to a long-running legal dispute involving personal guarantees for group debt.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved a personal insolvency resolution plan for Subhash Chandra, the founder of the Zee Group. The tribunal's decision allows a settlement of ₹6.5 crore to be paid against total admitted claims of approximately ₹22,006.57 crore. For the creditors involved, this results in a recovery rate of roughly 0.03%, meaning a significant portion of the total debt remains effectively unpaid under this settlement.
The approval process for this plan was lengthy and involved a split decision among the original members of the Delhi bench. To resolve the impasse, the tribunal appointed a third judicial member, Nilesh Sharma, who ultimately cleared the proposal. This follows a creditor vote held in November 2024, where lenders representing 80.814% of the voting share supported the resolution. However, this support did not represent a consensus, as several major lenders—including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank, Union Bank of India, and LIC Housing Finance—had strongly opposed the plan.
The legal dispute originated from Subhash Chandra’s role as a personal guarantor for a loan of ₹170 crore taken by Vivek Infracon, an entity associated with the Essel Group, which defaulted in 2022. During the proceedings, opposing creditors raised significant concerns regarding the fairness of the payout. They questioned the "related-party" nature of the votes that supported the plan and argued that the settlement amount of ₹6.5 crore was disproportionately low compared to the total financial exposure.
This development comes amidst broader regulatory scrutiny facing the promoter group. In August 2026, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from the securities market for one year in an unrelated matter involving land pledge disclosures. While the insolvency case and the SEBI market ban are separate legal events, they collectively highlight the governance and regulatory challenges that have drawn attention to the promoter's activities over the past few years.
Following this NCLT order, the resolution professional is now required to finalize the list of creditors and begin the process of distributing the ₹6.5 crore settlement amount. For investors and market participants, the case underscores the complexities of personal insolvency proceedings in India, particularly where significant gaps exist between the total claims of lenders and the disclosed assets available for recovery. Stakeholders may continue to monitor any further legal appeals or regulatory disclosures from associated companies regarding governance and management stability.