Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 10

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Lok Sabha Passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy code
amendment bill 2017:
Lok Sabha Passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy code amendment bill 2017 to curb the loopholes
of existing code. This would make the resolution process more effective. Loan defaulters can
participate in bidding under the insolvency proceedings after paying due interest and making their
bad loan accounts operational, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
The government cannot allow loan defaulters to “merrily walk back” by paying a fraction of the due
amount, he said while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code Amendment Bill, 2017, which was later passed by a voice vote.
The bill seeks to replace an ordinance which was promulgated in November to prevent
unscrupulous persons from misusing or vitiating the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code (IBC).
The ineligible persons or entities will include undischarged insolvent, wilful defaulter and those
whose accounts have been classified as non-performing asset.
These persons, however, can become “eligible to submit a resolution plan” if they clear all the
overdue amounts with interest and other charges relating to their NPA accounts.
Those defaulters who had participated in the insolvency proceedings before November 23 can
also bid for stressed assets provided they clear their dues in a month.
Taking a dig at Congress member Gaurav Gogoi, the minister said that NPA was a “legacy
problem” and was mainly on account of the reckless lending undertaken by the banks during the
erstwhile UPA regime.