Suratgarh Bikaner Toll Road Company ... vs State Bank Of India & Anr

IN THE MATTER OF: Suratgarh Bikaner Toll Road Company Pvt. Ltd. ...Appellant

Versus

State Bank of India & Anr. ...Respondents

Present: For Appellant : Adv. Arun Kathpalia (Sr. Adv.), Mr Abhishek Anand, Mr Karan Kohli, Ms Ridhima Mehrotra, Ms Dikhsa Gupta, Advocates. For Respondents : Mr Joy Saha (Sr. Adv.), Adv. Snehasish Chakraborty,

ORDER

(Hybrid Mode)

09.10.2025 The Ld. Senior Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the

Instant Appeal is filed under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013 assailing

order dated 11.09.2025 passed by Ld. President, NCLT, New Delhi through

which the Transfer Application bearing TA (IBC No. 52/2025) was dismissed.

It is submitted that the Appellant had sought transfer of Company Petition (IB)

No. 68 (KB)/2024 titled "State Bank of India Vs. Suratgarh Bikaner Toll Road

Company Pvt. Ltd. which is presently pending before NCLT, Kolkata Bench-II

to NCLT, Kolkata Bench- I wherein Company Petition (IB) No. 249(KB)2023

titled Punjab National Bank Vs. Suratgarh Toll Road was pending.

2. It is submitted that the Ld. President heard and dismissed the transfer

application without considering the fact that both the petitions u/s 7 of IBC,

2016 arise out of loans taken under a common loan agreement dated

30.03.2013. The loans were disbursed to the Appellant by a consortium of lenders led by Punjab National Bank, and that the funds were deposited and

withdrawn from a common escrow account maintained with Punjab National

Bank. It was submitted that the Learned President erred in making the

observations "The plea of common cause if at all can be considered by the

respective courts" as the transfer from one court to the other court in NCLT is

an exclusive domain of powers of the President, NCLT.

3. Ld. Senior Counsel for the Respondent Bank stated that Company

Petition bearing (IB) No. 249(KB)/2023 was filed by Punjab National Bank on

07.11.2023 for a default of Rs. 315 crores. 29 hearings have taken place in the

said Petition and the next date of hearing is 17.10.2025 for conclusion of the

arguments. The second Petition No. 68(KB)/2024 was filed on 22.12.2023 by

the State Bank of India for a default amount of Rs. 122 Crores in which almost

17 hearings had taken place in Court-II of NCLT Kolkata. It is submitted that

the application for transfer was filed by the Appellant only on 06.09.2025, at a

very belated stage to derail the proceedings which were nearing conclusion.

The Ld. President NCLT, while dismissing the transfer application, had duly

noted that both the cases have been heard for quite a long time and that the

cause of initiation of Section 7 Petition by the two Financial Creditors are

separate and are based on different facts. The Ld. President had also noted

that the applicant Corporate Debtor had waited too long to move the

application and there is no justification for seeking transfer at this stage.

4. After hearing both the sides and perusing the records, we note that the

two applications arise from different loans given by two different Financial

Creditors, namely, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India. We also note

that the application for transfer was filed after considerable delay, and after several hearings before respective courts, without assigning any good reason

for the delay. Accordingly, we find no reason to interfere in the order of the Ld.

President NCLT dismissing the transfer application TA IBC (52, (PB)/2025. The

appeal is dismissed. All connected IAs are disposed of.

[Justice Yogesh Khanna] Member (Judicial)

[Ajai Das Mehrotra] Member (Technical)

MT/MD