Major Financial Developments: NCLT Approves Subhash Chandra Plan, ITAT Deletes ₹11,003 Crore Jio Tax Demand

A series of recent financial regulatory rulings and banking disclosures have brought national attention to high-value debt write-offs, tax relief decisions, and transparency protocols surrounding corporate liabilities in India.

The developments involve significant resolution outcomes at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), appellate tax relief from the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), and Right to Information (RTI) disclosures regarding public sector loan write-offs.

In a major insolvency ruling under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the NCLT approved a personal insolvency repayment plan for Zee Group founder Subhash Chandra. The approved resolution framework allows the settlement of admitted creditor claims totaling ₹22,006.57 crore for a payment of ₹6.5 crore. The plan, which received support from creditors holding 80.81% of the voting share, translates to a recovery of approximately 0.03% for lenders, resulting in a 99.97% haircut. Key lenders including LIC Housing Finance—facing an admitted claim of ₹1,322.39 crore—are slated to receive ₹38.09 lakh under the structured payout.

Simultaneously, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) deleted a tax disallowance of ₹11,003 crore imposed on Reliance Jio Infocomm for assessment year 2019-20. The tribunal ruled that an accounting entry treating expenses as capital work-in-progress (CWIP) in corporate books does not automatically determine their tax classification as capital expenditure. Upholding an earlier order by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), the ITAT held that ongoing operational and network maintenance expenses connected to existing infrastructure cannot be treated as composite capital outlays without specific proof of creating new enduring assets.

Adding to the financial landscape, state-run Bank of Baroda disclosed under an RTI response that it technically wrote off loans amounting to ₹35,715 crore for accounts with dues of ₹100 crore and above between FY20-21 and FY25-26. During the same period, cumulative recovery from these large defaulted accounts stood at ₹9,946 crore, alongside ₹7,817 crore in write-offs accepted as haircuts during account settlements. The bank declined to disclose individual names of the defaulting corporate borrowers, citing exemptions under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act regarding third-party personal privacy.