Committee Of Creditors Of Think And Learn Private Limited vs Riju Ravindran & Ors.

Court
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
Case type
IA
Decided on
24-02-2026
<div> <b>NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNAL </b><br /> <b>AT CHENNAI </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>(APPELLATE JURISDICTION) </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>24.02.2026 </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>In the matter of: </b><br /> <b>Committee of Creditors of Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd. </b><br /> <b>IBC Knowledge Park, 4/1, 2nd Floor </b><br /> <b>Tower D, Bannerghatta Main Road </b><br /> <b>Bangalore, Karnataka – 560 029. …Appellant </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>Vs </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>1.</b> <b> </b> <b>Riju Ravindran </b><br /> <b>Represented by his Power of Attorney </b><br /> <b>Mr Shaji Puthalath </b><br /> <b>R/o 3023, Sobha Palladian </b><br /> <b>Yemalur Main Road </b><br /> <b>Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560 037. </b> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>2.</b> <b> </b> <b>The Board of Control for Cricket in India </b><br /> <b>Having office at </b><br /> <b>4th Floor, Cricket Centre </b><br /> <b>Wankhede Stadium D Road </b><br /> <b>Churchgate, Mumbai </b><br /> <b>Maharashtra - 400 020. </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>3.</b> <b> </b> <b>Mr Shailendra Ajmera </b><br /> <b>Resolution Professional of M/s Think &amp; Learn Private Limited </b><br /> <b>Having address at </b><br /> <b>Ernst &amp; Young LLP, 3rd Floor </b><br /> <b>Worldmark, Aerocity Hospitality </b><br /> <b>New Delhi – 110 037. </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>4.</b> <b> </b> <b>GLAS Trust Company LLC </b><br /> <b>A limited liability company organised and </b><br /> <b>existing under the laws of the </b><br /> <b>State of New Hampshire, USA </b><br /><br /> 2 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Having its registered office at </b><br /> <b>Second Street, Suite 206, Jersey City </b><br /> <b>New Jersey 07311, USA </b><br /> <b>Represented by its Authorised Representative </b><br /> <b>Mr Sunil Thomas. </b><br /> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> </b> <b> …Respondents </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>Present : </b><br /> <br /> For Appellant : Mr. Jayant Mehta, Senior Advocate <br /> For Ms. Prachi Johri, Ms. Mrigangi Parul, <br /> Mr. Girishkumar Fating, Mr. Mayan Jain &amp; <br /> Mr. Ajay Shankar Rao, Advocates <br /> For Respondent : Ms. Pooja Mahajan, Ms. Arveena Sharma, <br /> Mr. Ichchha Kalash &amp; Ms. Samridhi Shrimali, <br /> Advocates for R3 <br /> Ms. Haripriya Padmanabhan, Senior Advocate <br /> For ⁠Mr. V Shyamohan, Ms. Sradhaxna Mudrika, <br /> Ms. Anshika Bajpai, Ms. Shreya Nair, Mr. Vishal <br /> Sinha &amp; Mr. Anirud C., Advocates for R1 <br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>JUDGMENT </b><br /> <b>(Hybrid Mode) </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>Per : Justice N Seshasayee, Member (Judicial) </b><br /> <br /> This Appeal which challenges an Order, dated 26.08.2025, dismissing I.A <br /> No.495/2025 in CP(IB) No.149/BB/2023 raises a fundamental issue: What <br /> is the legal character of the appellant, the Committee of Creditors of M/s. <br /> Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd., to litigate in its name. <br /> 2. The minimum facts which are relevant for the current purposes may now <br /> be stated: <br /><br /> 3 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> a) M/s. Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd. was admitted into CIRP under Sec.9 <br /> IBC vide the order of the Adjudicating Authority in CP(IB) <br /> No.149/BB/2023. <br /> b) On 21.08.2024, the RP constituted a four-member CoC whereinafter <br /> it took out I.A No.942/2024, before the Adjudicating Authority to <br /> place on record the constitution of the CoC. Subsequently, on <br /> 31.08.2024, the RP reconstituted the CoC by dropping 2 out of 4 <br /> members in the CoC, namely M/s. Glas Trust Company LLC <br /> (hereinafter Glas Trust, for short) with 99.41% voting share and M/s. <br /> Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL) with a fractional voting share in <br /> the remainder. It may be stated that on the date when the RP <br /> reconstituted the CoC, the application he had earlier taken pursuant to <br /> the constitution of CoC on 21.08.2024 was yet to be taken on record. <br /> Subsequent to the reconstitution of the CoC, the RP took out IA <br /> No.671 of 2024 for the acceptance of the reconstituted CoC. It was <br /> only thereafter, the earlier mentioned application was numbered as IA <br /> No.942 of 2024. <br /> c) Be that as it may, aggrieved by the removal from the CoC, both ABCL <br /> and M/s. Glas Trust Company LLC took out separate applications in <br /> IA No.660 of 2025 and IA No.802 of 2024, respectively. On <br /> 29.01.2025, both these applications came to be allowed. <br /><br /> 4 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> d) Subsequently, on 17.02.2025, the Adjudicating Authority allowed IA <br /> No.942/2024. It became a formal order, since by then the applications <br /> which the two financial creditors whom the RP had removed from the <br /> CoC had been allowed. Needless to mention, he dismissed IA No.671 <br /> of 2024, as having become infructuous in view of the order passed in <br /> IA No.942 of 2024. <br /> e) While things stood thus, one of the suspended directors of the CD <br /> preferred IA No.466 of 2025, to remove Glas Trust from the CoC. In <br /> this application, the CoC took out IA No.495 of 2025 to implead itself. <br /> 3. This application filed by the CoC came to be dismissed vide the Order <br /> now under challenge by the Adjudicating Authority principally on two <br /> grounds: <br /> (a) The CoC does not have a legal character and that it can be <br /> represented only by the Resolution Professional. <br /> (b) Since I.A No.466 of 2025 is directed essentially against M/s. <br /> Glas Trust, it alone is the entity whose right to be in CoC is <br /> threatened, and the CoC itself does not have any subsisting <br /> interest or right to participate in this proceeding as it is not a <br /> necessary party to the proceedings. <br /><br /> 5 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> 4. Aggrieved by the same, the CoC has approached this Tribunal with this <br /> Appeal. <br /> <b>Arguments</b> : <br /> 5.1 Both sides laboured hard to persuade us to their respective line of <br /> contentions, but eventually what is required to be decided is the legal <br /> character of CoC and whether it can litigate in its name. While the appellant <br /> chiefly relied on Sec.3(23) of the IBC which defined ‘ <i>Person</i> ’ to include an <br /> entity statutorily constituted under sub-section (g) thereof, the respondent <br /> would contend that inasmuch as a CoC does not possess a juristic <br /> personality, it cannot maintain any application or appeal in its name. In <br /> addition, the respondent also resisted the appeal for its maintainability on the <br /> ground that the one who has verified the appeal is the Power of Attorney of <br /> Glas Trust, for whose removal from the CoC the respondent has taken out <br /> I.A.466 of 2025. The learned counsel contended that the CoC vide its <br /> resolution dated 30.05.2025 has authorised Glas Trust only to file a company <br /> petition under Sec.241,242 of the Companies Act, but not file any application <br /> for impleading the CoC in I.A.466 of 2025, a petition which the respondent <br /> has filed for the very removal of Glas Trust from the CoC. <br /><br /> 6 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> 5.2 Both the sides competed with each other in citing several authorities, but <br /> 1 2<br /> we choose to list the authorities of both the appellant and the respondent in <br /> the footnote, since for deciding the issues raised, understanding the import <br /> of those authorities is more important than extracting them as part of this <br /> judgement. More so, when the principal question to be resolved involves an <br /> understanding of the legal character of the CoC, which in our estimate <br /> remains to be explored in a virgin terrain and on first principles. <br /> <b>Discussion &amp; Decision</b> : <br /> 6. There are in effect four issues: (a) whether the appeal is properly <br /> instituted? (b) Has the Committee of Creditors - the CoC, a legal character – <br /> a juristic personality to litigate in its name under scheme of the IBC as CoC. <br /> The issue largely has to be tested on the basis of jurisprudential principles <br /> and in the statutory context in which CoC comes into existence; (c) If it is <br /> found that CoC has a legal character and has the right to litigate, whether the <br /> scheme of IBC mandates that only RP can represent it in any proceedings <br /> <br /> 1<br /> <b><i>Kasturi V. Iyyamperumal</i></b> , [(2005) 6 SCC 733]; <b><i>S.K. Saldi v. GM, U.P. State Sugar Corpn. Ltd.</i></b> , [(1997) <br /> 9 SCC 661]; <b><i>Union Bank of India (Erstwhile Corporation Bank) V Dinkar T. Venkatasubramanian</i></b> , [CA <br /> (AT) (Ins.) No. 729 of 2020]; <b><i>DBS Bank India Pvt. Ltd. v. Rakesh Kumar Jain &amp; Anr.</i></b> , [2022 SCC OnLine <br /> NCLAT 3760]; <b><i>Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. V. Rakesh Kumar Jain</i></b> , [Civil Appeal No. <br /> 5709/2023]; <b><i>Swiss Ribbons (P) Ltd. V. Union of lndia</i></b> , [(2019) 4 SCC 17]; <b><i>Kalyani Transco v. Bhushan </i></b><br /> <b><i>Power and Steel Limited and Ors</i></b> , [2025 SCC OnLine SC 2093]; <b><i>Regen Powertech Private Limited Vs. </i></b><br /> <b><i>Giriraj Enterprises &amp; Anr</i></b> ., [Civil Appeal No. 5985-6001/2023]; <b><i>Essar Steel (India) Ltd. Committee of </i></b><br /> <b><i>Creditors V. Satish Kumar Gupta</i></b> , [(2020) 8 SCC 53]1; <b><i>Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. v. Amit Gupta</i></b> , <br /> [(2021) 7 SCC 209]; <b><i>Punjab National Bank v Kiran Shah, RP of ORG Informatics Limited</i></b> , [CA (AT). (Ins.) <br /> &#x27;No. 1023 of 2019]; <b><i>Punjab National Bank v. Kiran Shah</i></b> , [2020 SCC OnLine NCLAT 155] <br /> <br /> 2<br /> <b><i>Ram Parshotam Mittal &amp; Ors v. Hotel Queen Road Pvt. Ltd</i></b> <i>. [</i> (2019) 20 SCC 326]; <b><i>A.C. Muthiah vs BCCI</i></b> <br /> [(2011) 6 SCC 617]; <b><i>Dogiparthi Venkata Satish v. Pilla Durga Prasad</i></b> , [2025 SCC OnLine SC 1825]; <b><i>Chief </i></b><br /> <b><i>Conservator of Forests v. Collector</i></b> [(2003) 3 SCC 472]; <b><i>Anjali Sood &amp; Ors. versus Director of Education </i></b><br /> <b><i>&amp; Ors,</i></b> [2009 SCC OnLine Del 1734]; <b><i>Rajnish Jain v. Manoj Kumar Singh</i></b> [2020 SCC OnLine NCLAT 824]; <br /> <b><i>Essar Steel India Ltd. Committee of Creditors v. Satish Kumar Gupta</i></b> [(2020) 8 SCC 531]; <b><i>Swiss Ribbons </i></b><br /> <b><i>Private Limited v. Union of India</i></b> [(2019) 4 SCC 17]; <b><i>Kunwer Sachdev v. IDBI Bank</i></b> [(2024) 5 HCC <br /> (Del)170]; <b><i>SBI v Murari Lal Jalan &amp; Florian Fritsch</i></b> [(2025) 4 SCC 354]; <br /><br /> 7 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> before the Adjudicating Authority? (d) Assuming the CoC has a legal <br /> character to litigate in its name, still is it necessary to implead the CoC in a <br /> proceeding which a suspended director of the CD has taken out for the <br /> removal of a particular financial creditor? <b> </b><br /> <b>Legal Character of the COC and it’s Right to Litigate </b><br /> 7. Does the CoC possess a legal character as a juristic person? Can it sue or <br /> be sued (to be neutral, to litigate) in its name? Those, who are familiar with <br /> the IBC and its working might be more than adequately familiar with a CoC, <br /> its formation and role, but the issue as to its legal character and it’s right to <br /> litigate in its name apparently has eluded their scrutiny till this issue is <br /> debated in the decennary year of the IBC. Hitherto, it appears that the <br /> pundits of, and the players within the IBC, as well as the tribunals constituted <br /> thereunder appeared to have treated a CoC synonymously with a partnership <br /> firm, a compendious term law recognises to refer to the partners who <br /> constitute it. Before delving to unravel the appropriate understanding of the <br /> legal character of the CoC in the deeper layers of jurisprudential principles, <br /> it is considered necessary to commence the discussion with an understanding <br /> of few preliminary aspects - to re-confirm the basics since the wicket <br /> suddenly behaves very differently from the way an IBC wicket ordinarily <br /> behaves. <br /><br /> 8 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> 8.1 The expression ‘Committee of Creditors’ is not defined under Sec.5. It <br /> finds a reference, indeed its origin, in Sec.21 IBC. Under Sec.21(1) an <br /> Interim Resolution Professional is required to constitute a CoC. Here <br /> Sec.21(2) is contextually relevant. It reads: <br /> “ <i>The committee of creditors shall comprise all financial creditors of the </i><br /> <i>corporate debtor</i> ” . <br /> Principally, a CoC, by default, is a group of financial creditors, which in <br /> terms of Sec.5(7) are those to whom a financial debt as defined under <br /> Sec.5(8) is owed by a corporate debtor. The financial creditors within the <br /> CoC may have a common objective, still they do not share an identical <br /> interest since every member of the CoC has its right well defined by an <br /> independent contract that they have entered into with the corporate debtor. <br /> A CoC is not a committee spontaneously created by the volition of the <br /> financial creditors but is formed in deference to the statutory <br /> conceptualisation. They are bound together not by a common cord but only <br /> by a common denominator. Under the scheme of the IBC, the CoC is <br /> conceived as a statutory contrivance, an engine, that runs the entire <br /> insolvency resolution process. In another sense CoC is also required to be a <br /> statutory conscience keeper, as the responsibility it is enjoined with travels <br /> far beyond its preference to protect the financial interest of the members <br /> constituting it, since it is also required to secure the interest of every creditor <br /><br /> 9 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> of the corporate debtor besides the corporate debtor itself. An analysis of the <br /> IBC informs that while its decisions are taken by a majority voting of 66%, <br /> yet when a resolution plan is approved by the majority, it treats a dissenting <br /> financial creditor differently under Sec.30(2) without forcing it to be bound <br /> by the decision of the majority. It can therefore, be deduced that while the <br /> IBC attempts to forge a purposive alliance, it is equally careful not to <br /> dissolve the independent identity of the financial creditors within the CoC. <br /> To state it differently, the IBC may require the financial creditors to go for a <br /> huddle, yet it does not aim to build any team spirit within the CoC. The <br /> members thereof may, but they need not. <br /> 8.2 A long prelude perhaps it is, but it does provide the contextual relevance <br /> needed for the enquiry. Does the CoC enjoy a corporate personality? It does <br /> not, as it is not a registered entity under the Companies Act with the <br /> characteristic perpetual succession and a common seal that distinguishes a <br /> company from those who constitute it. Indeed, it goes against the very <br /> definition of corporate personality under Sec.3(7) of the Code. Can it be <br /> then equated to a Society? It cannot be since it is neither registered nor <br /> required to be registered as a society. Can it be compared to a partnership <br /> which enables a firm to refer to the partners who constitute it, to sue or be <br /> sued in its name without reference to the partners? Again it cannot be, since <br /> under Sec.4 of the Partnership Act, a partnership is defined as born of an <br /><br /> 10 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> agreement between persons to ‘ <i>share the profits of a business carried on by </i><br /> <i>all or any of them acting for all</i> , whereas the members of the CoC hardly are <br /> required to be in ad idem, nor any member is required to act for all. At any <br /> rate they assemble not to make profit but to minimise haircuts. Is it then <br /> possible to compare a CoC to a club or an association of persons? It cannot <br /> be, since jurisprudentially a club or association of persons is voluntarily <br /> formed for the mutual benefit of all, whereas a CoC is statutorily forged with <br /> no requirement for mutual care within it. Does it then bear any resemblance <br /> to a trust, though trust is not a juristic person? Again, it does not, though part <br /> of its responsibility may resemble a trust, for, unlike a trustee, an individual <br /> member of the CoC does not forsake their individual benefit that may accrue <br /> to them in a resolution process. So, what then is the real character of a CoC? <br /> Suddenly and very unwittingly, this process of filtration has taken the course, <br /> the ongoing enquiry to understand the legal character of the CoC through the <br /> path of <i>Adi Sankara,</i> as it seemingly directs the discourse to discover that <br /> which is not, by trying to know the unknown by eliminating what is known. <br /> 9.1 The appellant knows the difficulty it has. Hence, the learned counsel for <br /> the appellant placed reliance on Sec.3(23) of the Code, which reads: <br /> <i>“Person” includes— </i><br /> <i>(a) an individual; </i><br /> <i>(b) a Hindu Undivided Family; </i><br /> <i>(c) a company; </i><br /><br /> 11 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> <i>(d) a trust; </i><br /> <i>(e) a partnership; </i><br /> <i>(f) a limited liability partnership; and </i><br /> <i>(g) any other entity established under a statute. </i><br /> <i> </i><br /> It may have to be stated that this definition bears striking similarity to the <br /> definition of a person under Sec.2(31) of the Income Tax Act. If this <br /> definition is closely analysed it can be noticed that the definition of a person <br /> under Sec.3(23) above is an amalgamated collection of those who are <br /> jurisprudentially recognised as a person and also those who are not. For <br /> instance, a HUF or a trust or a partnership firm are not recognised as a person <br /> in jurisprudence, yet by a statutory fiction they are grouped with a company <br /> or a Limited Liability Partnership in the definition of a ‘person’. This <br /> definition appears as a legislative conciliation of jurisprudential <br /> incompatibles. <br /> 9.2 The appellant would now rely on Sec.3(23)(g) to contend that the CoC is <br /> a statutory entity as it is a creation of a statute, and hence it falls within the <br /> definition of a person. Even if it is presumed to fall within it, can a mere <br /> Committee of those with divergent interest, forged into an alliance, not of <br /> their volition but due to a statutory necessity, for a particular purpose in a <br /> particular case, be granted a legal status as a juristic person to litigate in its <br /> name? Law understands a juristic person as an aspect of its eternal character, <br /><br /> 12 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> whether it litigates or not, and is not known to constitute it for a special <br /> purpose. If contrasted with the creation of juristic person as an aspect of <br /> jurisprudential necessity, it is difficult to hold that a CoC, which is merely a <br /> collective of those with conflicting interests grouped together for a specific <br /> purpose and that dies naturally with the conclusion of the resolution process, <br /> may ever be termed as a juristic person on the broader principles of <br /> jurisprudence. Let the case of the HUF and a Trust, both of which are <br /> classified as a person under Sec.3(23) be considered. A HUF may be a <br /> person in terms of the definition, but it cannot litigate in its name since a suit <br /> may be laid only by the <i>‘karta</i> ’ or the manager of the family, who is a natural <br /> person. A trust by legal fiction may be termed as a person within this <br /> definition, but only trustees can sue and be sued and not the trust, but the <br /> trustees are natural persons. Therefore, one who is not constituted as a juristic <br /> person even though if it falls within the definition of person under Sec.3(23) <br /> of the IBC may be considered as a person wherever the definition which <br /> characterise them as such is applied, yet it may not have the right to litigate <br /> in its name. <br /> 9.3 Turning to Sec.3(23)(g), for a statutory entity to be termed as a person <br /> with the right to sue or be sued in its name, it must be constituted as a <br /> corporate soul such as for instance, a Commissioner of the Municipality, <br /> whom most Municipalities Acts constitute as a corporate soul with perpetual <br /><br /> 13 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> succession and common seal. A CoC therefore, can hardly be termed as a <br /> person in that sense with right to litigate in its name. <br /> 10.1 On broader jurisprudential principles, a CoC cannot be termed as an <br /> entity with right to litigate. Having stated thus, there is a narrower-sense <br /> approach to the issue. As explained earlier a CoC cannot have an existence, <br /> nor can it seek any existence for any purposes outside the IBC in order the <br /> issue of it’s right to litigate in its name before any judicial or quasi-judicial <br /> fora may even become relevant. But, why not it be given a limited <br /> recognition for litigating within the framework of the IBC as concerning <br /> issues that arises under the Code? In its statutory role within the scheme of <br /> the IBC it has a functional role to play by taking business decisions founded <br /> on ground realities which then binds all stakeholders, including dissentient <br /> creditors as was pointed out by the Supreme Court in <b><i>Satish Kumar Gupta’s </i></b><br /> <b><i>case</i></b> [(2020) 8 SCC 534]. Therefore, since CoC is a statutory body and a <br /> decision- making entity, to deny it it’s legal existence for all purposes merely <br /> because it is neither a juristic person might be akin to throwing the baby out <br /> with the bathwater. <br /> 10.2 It should not also be ignored that CoC is not constituted as a permanent <br /> body for all the insolvency resolution processes initiated against every <br /> corporate debtor. It is only then it’s right to litigate as a legal entity that may <br /> become relevant, but not when its existential relevance itself is limited to the <br /><br /> 14 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> insolvency resolution process of a particular CD. This is one part. On the <br /> other, we are conscious that there are innumerable litigations where CoC is <br /> arrayed as a litigant. Even in the famed <b><i>Essar Steel case</i></b> [(2020) 8 SCC 531], <br /> it is the <b><i>CoC of the</i></b> <b><i>Essar Steels</i></b> which appeared as the appellant before the <br /> Supreme Court. (Indeed, the issue that this tribunal now has to resolve was <br /> not raised in any of the earlier cases). If in the working of the IBC, a generally <br /> evolved and accepted practice which lets the CoC to litigate in its name is <br /> allowed to be in vogue for a decade now, and is found to be working <br /> effectively despite its jurisprudential inadequacies to claim a juristic <br /> character, why should it be rejected when the curial course to align the <br /> prevailing practice with jurisprudential principles carry the risk of setting the <br /> cat among the pigeons? There will be chaos. Hence if the practice of CoC <br /> litigating in its name is continued, it disturbs none except the consciousness <br /> of the puritans from classical jurisprudential school. It should not be <br /> forgotten that principal feature of a law is its functionality, and if a practice, <br /> even though not approved in jurisprudence, has enabled and ensured its <br /> functional efficacy and practical utility, it need not be unnecessarily <br /> disturbed. This tribunal, even as it acknowledges the jurisprudential wisdom <br /> behind the contention of the respondent, it still cannot jettison the <br /> pragmatism required of its judicial approach to the issue at hand. Therefore, <br /> we hold that for the purpose of working of the IBC and to deal with litigious <br /><br /> 15 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> issues which require to be remedied within the framework of IBC are <br /> concerned, we find no reason to bar the CoC, a creation of the very IBC, to <br /> litigate in its name. Those with strong allegiance to jurisprudential principles <br /> may still wonder: ‘ <i>How can it be?</i> ’ But, we do wonder: ‘ <i>Why can’t it be?</i> ’ <br /> 11. The conclusion herein arrived may still leave ancillary issues that can <br /> complicate it’s working. Where a CoC is a single member CoC, it does not <br /> matter whether the financial creditor is referred to by its name or as CoC. <br /> Where however, there is a multi-member CoC, and if there is absolute <br /> unanimity in instituting or defending an action as between those who <br /> constitute it, then again, a CoC can litigate in its name. But there is a third <br /> situation, which one of us (Seshasayee J) has encountered in another case. <br /> That was a case where it appears that all the members of the CoC agreed to <br /> defend an action, but they do not appear to have agreed to do it together. If <br /> CoC (constituted of multiple financial creditors) alone is arrayed as a party-<br /> respondent, and only few members of the CoC with fractional voting share <br /> enter appearance, where to accommodate those with balance voting share? <br /> Therefore, the practice of letting CoC litigate in its name which we have <br /> approved in the earlier paragraph, is not without its difficulties. This <br /> therefore, necessitates a finetuning of the practice of allowing CoC to litigate <br /> in its name to avert the difficulties that it may pose. We therefore hold: <br /><br /> 16 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> a) Where CoC is run by a single member, it does not matter whether CoC <br /> litigates or the lone member constituting it litigates in their names. <br /> Therefore, CoC can litigate in its name. <br /> b) Where a multi-member CoC decides unanimously to litigate together, <br /> then it may institute such proceedings which may include a petition or <br /> an application or an appeal in its name. <br /> c) Where however, a multi-member CoC is intended to be arrayed as a <br /> respondent, then it is necessary that every member of the CoC is <br /> arrayed independently as a respondent, since the one who approaches <br /> the tribunal with a grievance may not know whether the members of <br /> the CoC intend to litigate together or not. <br /> d) What is mentioned in (c) has its relevance only for future litigations. <br /> So far as those which are pending, any issue that may visit the tribunal <br /> is only required to be addressed as and when it arises. <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>(b) Who should represent the CoC </b><br /> 12. We are not in agreement with the Adjudicating Authority’s view that <br /> only RP has the authority to represent the CoC. The Code constitutes CoC <br /> and RP as entirely different entities, and have assigned them different roles <br /> and specific responsibilities. It may be that RP is required to file an <br /> application seeking the approval of the Adjudicating Authority to the <br /><br /> 17 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> resolution plan approved by the CoC, but then the RP while doing so does <br /> not act as an agent of the CoC but merely complies with what IBC directs in <br /> Sec.31 of the IBC. See: the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in <br /> <b><i>Regen Powertech Pvt., Ltd., Vs Giriraj Enterprises &amp; another</i></b> [Cvil <br /> Appeal 5985-6001 of 2023, dated 25.09.2023]. <br /> <br /> <b>(c) Whether the CoC needs to be impleaded in I.A.466 of 2025</b> . <br /> 13.1 Here, we agree with the Adjudicating Authority. Whether Glas Trust <br /> should be removed from the CoC is essentially an issue which is exclusive <br /> to it. As has been discussed earlier a CoC is a mere collective of independent <br /> financial creditors, and despite its formation it does not purport to efface the <br /> independent identity of the members constituting it. After all every member <br /> of the CoC obtains an entry into it only after independently establishing that <br /> they are financial creditors of the corporate debtor, and that they have an <br /> independent claim for financial debt from the latter. It is one thing to treat <br /> the CoC as a statutory entity and to recognise it’s right to litigate in its name, <br /> and it is entirely another thing that if it is required to be impleaded in a <br /> proceeding whose decision does not affect the collective or identical right of <br /> all the members of the CoC. As we have explained in the earlier paragraphs, <br /> the distinction between a CoC and the members who constitute it is well <br /> defined and preserved under the statutory scheme of the Code, and hence <br /><br /> 18 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> anything that affects or threatens the individual right of a member of the CoC <br /> cannot be construed as a threat to all. When Glas Trust’s presence in the CoC <br /> is challenged, it is required to be tested only with reference to the nature of <br /> contractual relationship Glas Trust has established with the corporate debtor, <br /> and if it has given rise to a financial debt which the corporate debtor has <br /> defaulted in repaying. How does it concern the other members of the CoC, <br /> when their right to be in the CoC itself is dictated by their respective <br /> independent contract with the corporate debtor? Glas Trust may be keen to <br /> have the CoC as its cheer group while it defends I.A.466 of 2025, but law <br /> does not allow entry unless the presence of a party is necessary or at least <br /> proper for adjudicating an issue. <br /> 13.2 Needless to mention that CoC is neither a necessary party, not even a <br /> proper property for deciding the issue whether one of its members, the Glas <br /> Trust, should be in the CoC. We affirm the decision of the Adjudicating <br /> Authority and hold that the CoC does not required to be impleaded in I.A.466 <br /> of 2025. <br /> <br /> <b>Issue of Maintainability of the Appeal </b> <b> </b><br /> 14.1 Since we have taken a decision that there is hardly a need to implead <br /> the CoC in I.A.466 of 2025 which the respondent has taken out, this issue is <br /> now largely superfluous. However, the issue having been raised, we briefly <br /><br /> 19 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> touch upon it. The appeal is verified by a certain Ramesh, and he has been <br /> constituted as a Special Power of Attorney holder by Glas Trust under a deed <br /> of Special Power of Attorney, apparently based on a resolution of the CoC <br /> dated 30.05.2025 which has authorised Glas Trust, one of its members to <br /> engage a certain law firm for the conduct of C.P.46 of 2025 which the RP <br /> had laid under Sec.241and 242 of the Companies Act and the CIRP. The <br /> power granted to the holder thereof has authorised him to do everything for <br /> the conduct of the legal proceedings which included the authority to “ <i>swear, </i><br /> <i>affirm, execute, declare and file affidavits and all papers as may be required </i><br /> <i>(including notices, affidavits, motions, vakalatnamas, compromise terms, </i><br /> <i>petitions, caveats, applications (including injunction applications), </i><br /> <i>appeals,” </i> besides settling pleadings and giving evidence. <i> </i> The objection of <br /> the respondent is that inasmuch as the power is a special power granted to <br /> the power holder, and inasmuch as neither CoC’s resolution nor the power <br /> of attorney have not specifically authorised the power holder to take out an <br /> application for impleading on behalf of the CoC and file this appeal, the <br /> institution of this very appeal is rendered incompetent. <br /> 14.2 Without engaging ourselves in an exercise to micro scan the objection <br /> raised for evaluating its merit, we merely state that prima facie the extent of <br /> power granted appears broad based, but in view of the decision taken in this <br /> appeal, we find no need to deal with it in greater detail. <br /><br /> 20 <br /> <i>Company Appeal (AT) (CH) (Ins) No.475/2025 </i><br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Conclusion </b><br /> 15. Even though sizable part of this judgement has focused on understanding <br /> the legal character of the CoC and it’s right to litigate in its name, still it <br /> merely addresses one of the reasons which has persuaded the Adjudicating <br /> Authority to arrive at the conclusion that it did while passing the impugned <br /> Order. But the real issue is the need for impleading the CoC in I.A.466 of <br /> 2025. This has been answered in negative in the last preceding paragraph. <br /> 16. To conclude, we find no merit in this appeal and it is dismissed and the <br /> order of the Adjudicating Authority in I.A. 466 of 2025 in C.P.149/BB/2023 <br /> <b> </b><br /> stands confirmed. No costs. <br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>[Justice N Seshasayee] </b><br /> <b>Member (Judicial) </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b> </b><br /> <b>[Jatindranath Swain] </b><br /> <b>Member (Technical) </b><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </div>