Statutory IBC Appeal Must Ordinarily Prevail Over Writ Remedy

Court Sets Aside Kerala Writ Order

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal by Davis Koottala Varkey and others against Samson T. George and others over a National Company Law Tribunal order in liquidation proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. It set aside the High Court of Kerala order dated April 21, 2026 which had entertained a writ petition against the tribunal order.

Leave was granted and counsel were heard. The appellants said statutory provisions cannot curtail constitutional powers of High Courts under Articles 226 and 227. Judicial discipline still requires challenges under a special statute to follow remedies in that statute.

Section 61 gives a broadly worded right of appeal to any person aggrieved by an order of the adjudicating authority under Part II. It does not limit that right by the nature of the order. Reliance was placed on Committee of Creditors of KSK Mahanadi Power Company Ltd. v. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. and Others, 2024 news reports SC 4013, and on Mohammed Enterprises (Tanzania) Ltd. v. Farooq Ali Khan and Others, 2025 news reports SC 23.

Both decisions were cited for restraint in writ jurisdiction where the statutory mechanism governs insolvency proceedings. The Court said High Courts should ordinarily refrain from entertaining challenges to NCLT orders when the grievance can go before the appellate tribunal. It called it judicial discipline and adherence to the statutory framework where an alternative remedy is available. The writ petition stood dismissed on that ground.