JSW Steel's Bhushan hopes revive, SC to hear case again

In a major relief for JSW Steel Ltd, the Supreme Court has agreed to revisit its earlier ruling that cancelled the company's ₹19,350-crore acquisition of bankrupt Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) and directed its liquidation.

- Krishna Yadav & Dipali Banka

A special bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said that the 2 May ruling may have been based on legal errors and that this is a fit case for review.

"Prima facie, we are of the view that the impugned judgment does not correctly consider the legal position as laid down by a catena of judgments. This is a fit case for review," the bench said, adding that all legal questions would be open for fresh arguments.

The court will hear the matter again on Thursday, 7 August.

Notably, Justice Sharma was part of the earlier two-judge bench that delivered the 2 May ruling. "Yesterday, I had a discussion with my learned brother (Justice Sharma), who was gracious enough to admit that it requires reconsideration," said CJI Gavai.

The Chief Justice further noted that the commercial wisdom of the committee of creditors (CoC) must be respected, especially when it has been upheld by both the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). As per settled law, such decisions should not be interfered with lightly, he said.

The court will now hear all petitions afresh, including those filed by dissenting financial creditors such as Kalyani Group's Torsteel, the state of Odisha, and former BPSL promoter Sanjay Singal, who had challenged the resolution plan, citing delays in its implementation.

In its plea, JSW Steel highlighted that it had significantly improved BPSL's operations since acquiring it in March 2021. The company stated that BPSL's production capacity had nearly doubled from 2.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 2017 to 4.5 mtpa in 2025. Revenue had grown from ₹8,701 crore in FY17 to ₹25,973 crore in FY25, while exports averaged ₹2,976 crore annually over the past four years.