The Discretion Dilemma: Revisiting Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd. V. Axis Bank Ltd. And The Uncertain Contours Of Adjudicatory Power Under Section 7 Of The Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code, 2016

Neha Thakur, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, NMIMS, Mumbai ABSTRACT The Supreme Court's decision in Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd. v. Axis Bank Ltd. marks one of the most consequential and most contested interventions in the jurisprudence surrounding the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("IBC" or "the Code"). By reading the word "may" in Section 7(5)(a) of the Code as conferring genuine discretion on the Adjudicating Authority, the Court departed from nearly five years...