Calcutta: Numetal Mauritius, one of the bidders for Essar Steel, continues to face scrutiny over its eligibility under section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, despite dropping Rewant Ruia's Aurora Enterprise Ltd (AEL) as its shareholder from the second bid, documents filed with the National Company Law Tribunal suggested.
Additional affidavit filed by Satish Kumar Gupta, the resolution professional appointed by the NCLT to sort out the debt mess of Essar and find a new owner, revealed that the eligibility test of Numetal with three shareholders - Crinium Bay Holding (owned by VTB Bank PJSC), Indo International and TPE - is still "ongoing".
The affidavit, referred before the NCLT's Ahmedabad bench on Thursday, mentioned a letter written by Gupta to Numetal on March 23.
"I had already mentioned that the eligibility of Numetal and its shareholders and other connected persons of Numetal under Section 29A of the code was ongoing and the letter should not be construed as me having determined the eligibility of any other shareholder or connected person of Numetal (except to the extent set out in the letter relating to Rewant Ruia)," the affidavit said.
Incidentally, the affidavit said that the RP held each of the Numetal shareholders as joint venture partners to be acting jointly for the purpose of submission of the Numetal plan.
"While considering the eligibility of shareholders of Numetal, since AEL is held completely by RR (Rewant Ruia) through various holding companies and a trust, I have considered RR, Crinium Bay, Indo and TPE for scrutiny under section 29A of the code," the affidavit disclosed. The affidavit also revealed that Solis Enterprise Ltd, a company incorporated in Bermuda and owned by Rewant Ruia, to be the ultimate beneficiary of AEL.
Incidentally, Numetal has also challenged rival ArcelorMittal's eligibility over the procedure of declassification of its shareholding and promoter status in bankrupt Uttam Galva Steel and L.N. Mittal's personal shareholding in bankrupt KSS Petron.
Hearing on the eligibility of two bidders will continue for the third consecutive days on Friday.
