The Supreme Court has made it clear that any request it makes to a court or tribunal must be treated as a direction, and non-compliance will be looked into very seriously. The Court has sought an explanation from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for failing to hear a matter as requested.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran issued notice on a miscellaneous application and directed that, in the meantime, no Committee of Creditors (CoC) be constituted.
Background
On July 15, 2026, the same Bench disposed of appeals arising from NCLAT orders dated June 17 and June 29, 2026 in Company Appeal (AT) No. 210 of 2026. The appellants had sought permission for respondent No. 2 company to raise capital through a rights issue at par offered to all existing shareholders.
The Court said then that it was difficult for it to decide the disputed questions of fact, and left all parties free to raise their contentions before the NCLAT on July 23, 2026. Since the NCLT had reserved its order on a Section 7 IBC application, the Court made an “earnest request” to the NCLAT to ensure that the matter was heard on that date.
Application Before the Court
Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the applicant, told the Court that the NCLAT had still not heard the matter. They added that, meanwhile, the NCLT had pronounced its reserved order and admitted the Section 7 IBC application. Advocate J. Rajesh appeared for respondent No. 1 and Advocate Rajesh Kumar Gautam for the respondent No. 4 Bank.
Court’s Observations
Expressing displeasure, the Bench said: “We are quite disturbed with the manner in which the NCLAT has conducted itself in the present litigation.” It explained that the request had been made out of deference to the NCLAT’s position and to ensure that its judicial office was not belittled.
The Court observed: “When the Supreme Court makes a request to any Court or Tribunal, it has to be construed as a direction and not just a request.” It added that “if there is any request made by the Supreme Court to any Court or Tribunal, the same shall be treated as a direction and non-compliance of such direction shall be looked into very seriously.”
Directions
Noting that the NCLAT has fixed the matter for November 17, 2026, the Supreme Court issued notice returnable on November 19, 2026, and permitted dasti service in addition. The NCLAT has been asked to explain why the matter was not heard despite the Court’s order. Until then, no CoC shall be constituted.
Case Title: Sona Bansal v. Vashisht Kumar Goyal & Ors.
Case No.: Miscellaneous Application Diary No. 54224/2026
Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran
Date: October 27, 2026
