press trust of india
New Delhi, Dec 29: Loan defaulters can participate in bidding under the insolvency proceedings after paying due interest and making their bad loan accounts operational, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Friday.
The government cannot allow loan defaulters to “merrily walk back” by paying a fraction of the due amount, he said while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill, 2017, which was later passed by voice vote. The bill seeks to replace an ordinance which was promulgated in November to prevent unscrupulous persons from misusing or vitiating the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The ineligible persons or entities will include undischarged insolvent, wilful defaulter and those whose accounts have been classified as non-performing asset.
These persons, however, can become “eligible to submit a resolution plan” if they clear all the overdue amounts with interest and other charges relating to their NPA accounts. Those defaulters who had participated in the insolvency proceedings before November 23 can also bid for stressed assets provided they clear their dues in a month. Jaitley said the amendment had become necessary to prevent defaulters from taking advantage of the situation to come back into the management by paying a fraction of amount.
During the debate, NK Premachandran (RSP) and Saugata Roy (TMC) questioned the urgency shown by the government to bring in an ordinance. Roy said the new amendment will hurt more as not all bad loans are a result of mala fide intentions.
Parl holiday Jan 1
New Delhi: Parliament will have a long weekend this year-end and resume work January 2, as both Houses Friday decided to have a holiday on the first day of 2018. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan announced the decision of the Business Advisory Committee, while in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel announced the decision. The loss of business would be compensated by putting in extra hours on the remaining days of the ongoing winter session, Goel said. Saturdays and Sundays are holidays for Parliament. The Winter Session ends January 5.