OnlyKashmir.in
It sounds almost impossible. A businessman owes creditors ₹22,006 crore. He pays back ₹6.5 crore. The tribunal approves it. And just like that, 99.97 percent of the money simply disappears from the books.
This is exactly what happened to Zee founder Subhash Chandra, in a National Company Law Tribunal order that has triggered outrage among some of India’s biggest banks and financial institutions.
How it all started
The story begins in 2022, when Indiabulls Housing Finance, now known as Sammaan Capital, dragged Chandra to the NCLT. He had personally guaranteed a ₹170 crore loan taken by a company called Vivek Infracon. The company defaulted. Chandra was on the hook as guarantor.
But once the case was admitted in 2024, something bigger unfolded. The tribunal opened the door for other creditors to step forward. One by one, 23 lenders came out of the woodwork, all claiming Chandra had personally guaranteed their loans too. The total ballooned to a staggering ₹22,006 crore.
Then came the twist
Facing this mountain of claims, Chandra proposed something audacious: settle everything for just ₹6.5 crore. To most people, that would sound laughable. But under India’s insolvency law, a repayment plan does not need every creditor’s blessing. It only needs 75 percent by voting value.
And that is exactly what happened. In November 2024, creditors representing 80.814 percent of the voting share said yes. Just like that, the door was open.
The banks that fought back
Not everyone agreed. Heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank and LIC Housing Finance pushed back hard. LIC Housing alone was owed ₹1,322.39 crore. Under the plan, it stands to recover a mere ₹38.09 lakh. That is roughly 0.028 percent of what it was owed.
Their objections triggered a deadlock inside the tribunal itself. Two members disagreed. The case dragged on until a third member, Nilesh Sharma, was brought in to break the tie in February 2026. His ruling finally tilted the balance in Chandra’s favour.
The vanishing fortune
Perhaps the most jaw dropping part of this saga is Chandra’s own wealth. Documents show his net worth was certified at ₹45,888 crore in 2017 and ₹40,562 crore in 2018. Today, his disclosed net worth stands at just ₹31.79 crore. The tribunal said this gap alone was not proof of hidden assets, and did not order a forensic audit.
What happens now
LIC Housing Finance says it is not done yet. It insists it still holds rights over secured assets and is weighing further legal options. Several other lenders are reportedly preparing to appeal.
For now, one of India’s most dramatic insolvency battles has ended not with a bang, but with a payout smaller than what many people spend on a house.
