INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Loan and guarantee were governed by English laws and were subject to jurisdiction of English courts.IDBI Bank has secured a $ 239 million
judgment in the commercial division of the High Court of London against a Cypriot subsidiary of India-based Essar Shipping Group, among one
of the largest debt judgments obtained by an Indian bank in the English courts
IDH International Drilling Holdco Ltd (IDH), the Cypriot-registered parent company of the borrowers, is disappointed with the judgment and
is considering its position with regard to an appeal of this judgement, a spokesman for the Essar Group said.Mumbai-headquartered IDBI had
IDH gave a corporate guarantee in respect of the loan
important judgment both in terms of its size and the message it sends to defaulters that Indian banks are willing and able to recover
According to the law firm, in July 2017, after the borrowers failed to make scheduled repayments, IDBI served a formal demand for repayment
of the principal amount, contractual interest, default interest and fees.After further non-payment, the borrowers entered liquidation in
Singapore and, in January 2020, TLT commenced proceedings in the UK on behalf of IDBI
agreement pursuant to which IDBI agreed to accept partial payment in full and final settlement of the debt, provided the sum was paid on or
before February 28 this year.No such payment was received and, on March 1, IDBI applied for summary judgment, arguing there was no real
prospect of IDH successfully defending the claim at trial
The case was heard in the Commercial Court on May 21 by Deputy High Court Judge Leigh-Ann Mulcahy QC."IDH is disappointed with the judgment
as it had consistently argued that this debt was subject to a settlement arrangement reached with the lenders in 2020 and which is in the
process of being implemented (and that remains the case)," the spokesman for the Essar Group said in a statement."An affiliate of IDH has
already paid 10 per cent down payment pursuant to that settlement arrangement and is confident of implementing the final stages of this
settlement in next few months on completion of certain outstanding conditions
over Rs 140,000 Crs to its lenders
Such a repayment plan represents one of the largest debt repayment exercises undertaken by any corporate in India," the spokesman added
The TLT team, which also included Indian banking litigation specialists Paul Gair (partner) and Alex Morris (solicitor), said the case
demonstrates the ability of Indian banks to pursue defaulting borrowers and guarantors in the UK.The law firm is also currently representing
a consortium of 13 Indian banks led by State Bank of India in enforcing a 1.145 billion pounds debt recovery judgment against former
Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya
