WATERFALL MECHANISM FOR LIQUIDATION

June 21, 2020

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ruled that liquidation process of a company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) holds precedence over outcome of an arbitration proceeding.

About:

  • The NCLAT’s judgment essentially holds that if a corporate debtor is being liquidated, a creditor can not claim superiority over other secured creditors in the same band, and that everyone must receive their fair share by following the waterfall mechanism of liquidation.

  • As the name suggests, the waterfall mechanism under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code gives priority to secured financial creditors over unsecured financial creditors.

  • The mechanism says that if a company is being liquidated, these secured financial creditors must be first paid the full extent of their admitted claim, before any sale proceedings are distributed to any other unsecured creditor.

  • Under Section 53 of the IBC, which deals with waterfall mechanism, the top most priority, however, is given to costs related to the liquidation process and dues of workmen of the corporate debtor.

  • The dues of the workmen include all their salaries, provident, pension, retirement and gratuity fund, as well as any other funds maintained for the welfare of the workmen.