The National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT's) approval of a repayment plan under which Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra will pay about Rs 6.5 crore against admitted creditor claims of Rs 22,006.57 crore has triggered a storm about a 99.97 per cent haircut. The numbers are striking -- even though misleading -- and have created significant confusion about what exactly has been settled, whose debt is involved and what creditors are still entitled to recover.
The case does not involve a resolution of corporate borrowings by Essel Group companies. Nor does it involve a finding that Subhash Chandra personally borrowed Rs 22,000 crore. But the headline figures are technically correct, yet can be misleading if stripped of context.
