The rot has deepened and the earlier drama for trying to stop the exodus of Mallyas, Choksis and Modis is over and now defaulters can legally enjoy their stay here while the system works hard to absolve them with a clean chit. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved a personal repayment plan of Rs 6.25 to Rs 6.5 crore for a total claim of Rs22,006.57 crore against the founder of Essel Group, Subhash Chandra because he had given personal guarantees for the group’s companies. The crazy 99.97% cut which has sent shockwaves across the board has a backstory. Over the last decade we have witnessed Zee Network, founded by Subhash Chandra work day and night, across all their media platforms to promote Modi’s fascist agenda. All this hard work seems to be paying rich dividends.
Few Examples: Tele serials have huge influence over the masses in India and with Zee Network dominating the space, it is not surprising that Modi is often made out to be a hero there. “Aapko pata hai ab kuch bhi namumkin nahin hai, sab kuch mumkin hai. Aur yeh sab mumkin woh kiye hain jo hum sab ke beech mein se nikal kar aaye hain (You know that now nothing is impossible, everything is possible. And the one who has made all this possible is one who rose up from amongst us),” says the wife to her husband in the show, Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain airing in Zee5. “Ek woh aadmi hai jo din bhar desh ki akhandta aur swachhta ki baat karta hai…” (And then there’s a man who talks about the country’s oneness and cleanliness all day…), from the same serial. Perhaps their news service has been the most innovative in spreading vile communal propaganda. In fact, it was Sudhir Chaudhary in his show ‘DNA’, who invented the term tukde-tukde gang, villainizing students, critics and scholars and putting their lives at risk.
“We are introducing you to tukde-tukde gang and Afzal-premi gang today”, proclaimed Sudhir Chaudhary, a term for which even the home ministry had no answer. Doubling down on this, Sudhir Chaudhary had declared that “Zee News is going to do that for you” and defined the gang as people trying to break the country apart and those who “always look forward to create sympathy for terrorists and malign the judicial system”. These are merely few examples of the work done by his media empire. The scam behind the cut: The whole process of the cut has been a display of collusion and fraud. In the NCLT proceedings institutional lenders challenged the inclusion of five creditors they alleged were associated with Chandra. Together, these entities controlled nearly 62 percent of the voting share, and their support was critical to the plan’s approval.
Among these were, Veena Investments where 77.15% was held by Sushila Devi Goel, wife of Subhash Chandra’s brother Jawahar Goel. Direct Media which is 99.99% owned by Essel Corporate Resources, etc. Lemonade Capital Advisors, of whose partners Ravindra Pashte and Naresh Ingale had directorship links to entities into related-party network. Corpcall Capital Advisors, whose partner Vijay Bhujbal was also a director of Essel Highways and Essel Infraprojects and the last, Indiabulls Housing Finance which was the creditor that originally initiated the personal insolvency proceedings against Subhash Chandra. All these group, which controlled the majority shares, voted YES for the cut. This was in direct contradiction with seasoned banking institutions that voted AGAINST: Axis Bank; Canara Bank; HDFC Bank; IDBI Trusteeship / Franklin Templeton; LIC Housing Finance; RBL Bank; Union Bank of India. IndusInd Bank and another IDBI Trusteeship account also objected but did not vote.
AAP Chronology Samajhiye 2016: Chandra guarantees a company loan In 2016, Vivek Infra Private Limited, a company linked to the Essel Group, took a loan of about Rs170 crore from Indiabulls Housing Finance. Subhash Chandra gave a personal guarantee for the loan. 2018-19: The loan goes bad On December 5, 2018, Chandra gave another personal guarantee, increasing his guarantee limit to about Rs728 crore. A few months later, the company failed to make its payments. On February 4, 2019, Indiabulls recalled the loan and invoked Chandra’s personal guarantee. It then approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to start insolvency proceedings against him. Chandra challenged the case. He argued that the NCLT did not have the power to hear a personal insolvency case of this kind.
2022-24: The case moves ahead In May 2022, the NCLT rejected Chandra’s argument about its jurisdiction. In April 2024, the NCLT formally admitted Indiabulls’ insolvency application. This started the formal insolvency process against Chandra. As other lenders came forward and submitted their claims, the total debt for which Chandra was being held responsible as a guarantor rose to about Rs22,000 crore. 2025: A Rs6.5-crore repayment plan Chandra then proposed a repayment plan. 2026: NCLT agrees to Chandra’s plan,AISA
