The office of Zee founder Subhash Chandra on Thursday issued a clarification over reports about his personal insolvency case before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The office said some reports had presented the figures in the case without reflecting the current status of the proceedings. It said the Rs 22,000-crore figure being reported refers to total claims filed in the case and does not represent the amount currently owed by Chandra.
According to the clarification, Chandra did not borrow money from any lender in his personal capacity. He had only provided personal guarantees for loans taken by companies “which remotely fell under the banner of Essel Group.”
The office said the total guarantees signed by Chandra were for around Rs 22,000 crore.
It added that most of these guarantees were signed after January 24, 2019, “The day when the group defaulted in the financial system,’ mentioned the clarification.
The clarification said that lenders who objected to the repayment plan had filed total claims of Rs 3,992 crore against Chandra as a personal guarantor.
Of this amount, claims worth Rs 620 crore have been settled, leaving Rs 3,372 crore.
The office said the borrowing entities had offered to pay around Rs 1,113 crore to multiple lenders from this group. It added that discussions were continuing.
“Total amount released by the lenders in the above cases Rs 2856 Crores. Total amount paid back by the borrowers stands at Rs 1633 Crores. Leaving balance of Rs 1223 Crores against which lenders have claimed Rs 3992 Crores,” the press release mentioned.
The office also referred to another group of lenders who had either accepted the repayment plan or had not filed objections against Chandra.
Their total claims stood at Rs 16,386 crore when the claims were filed, while Rs 16,201 crore was admitted.
The office said the borrowing entities had disputed these claims as well and were in the process of settling the remaining amounts with these lenders.
It said the proposed settlement by the borrowing entities was also part of the repayment plan approved by the NCLT.
The office said the repayment plan was approved by 80.814% of creditors when it was put to vote.
“Many out of remaining 19.186% did not even vote when the voting was open for multiple days,” mentioned the clarification.
The office said Chandra’s assets were valued at Rs 39.08 crore in his declaration to Parliament in 2016. It said his total assets stood at Rs 31.79 crore in 2024 when disclosed to the resolution professional.
The office said this included a residential house valued at around Rs 25 crore. “Subhash Chandra paid from his personal account few times the salaries of employees when the borrowing companies could not pay salaries. Hence, his personal net worth came down to Rs. 31.79 Crores in 2024 from 39.08 Crores in 2016. This includes one residential house worth close to Rs. 25 Crores. Hence, he can pay what he has with him and basis which the Rs 6.5 crores repayment plan has been arrived.”
The clarification also disputed a claim that Chandra’s net worth was Rs 45,888 crore in 2017.
It said this figure was based on the market capitalisation of Essel Group entities being treated as the personal net worth of Chandra.
The office said Chandra had submitted during the proceedings that this calculation was incorrect.
It added that he had also made payments from his personal account towards employee salaries when the borrowing companies were unable to pay them.
The office said the Rs 6.5 crore repayment plan was arrived at based on what Chandra currently had available to pay.
The clarification said the personal insolvency matter had been pending since February 8, 2022.
It also pointed out that the NCLT’s opinion still had to be converted into a final order. “Hence the matter is still (technically) pending in NCLT court,” the clarification added.