Zee founder Subhash Chandra, during an 18-minute interaction with followers on Instagram on Monday, largely shifted his focus away from his recent allegations against billionaire Mukesh Ambani and instead defended his personal insolvency resolution plan and spoke about repayment of outstanding dues by borrowers linked to the Essel Group.
The interaction, which was attended by around 560 people at its peak, came two days after Chandra accused Reliance-linked media outlets of running a campaign against him. Reliance had rejected the allegations as baseless, PTI reported.
Chandra said he met borrowers linked to the Essel Group on Sunday and that they had agreed to repay their outstanding obligations to lenders.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has not yet passed a final order on Subhash Chandra's repayment plan, as no majority verdict emerged among the tribunal members.
Creditors are challenging the plan due to concerns about the approval process, as they believe that related parties' votes improperly influenced the outcome in favor of Chandra's plan.
Subhash Chandra's repayment plan proposes to pay approximately ₹6.5 crore, including ₹6.25 crore to creditors and ₹25 lakh for insolvency process costs.
Subhash Chandra explains that he acted as a guarantor for loans taken by several companies linked to the Essel Group, clarifying that his personal bankruptcy is due to guarantees, not direct borrowing.
The dissent from creditors raises questions about the integrity of the approval process of Chandra's repayment plan and may lead to further scrutiny and legal challenges within the insolvency proceedings.
According to Chandra, the borrowers number around 85 and are loosely associated with the Essel Group. He said they told him their outstanding bank debt was about ₹990 crore.
Chandra said the ₹22,006 crore figure had been widely misunderstood as it represented claims arising from personal guarantees he had provided for loans taken by companies associated with the Essel Group, rather than money he had personally borrowed.
He said he was merely a guarantor and that only one or two of the borrower entities were linked to his family.
Chandra said he had acted as a guarantor for 18 to 20 borrowing entities, all directly or indirectly linked to the Essel Group.
Responding to a query, Chandra said he only endorsed guarantees for people he personally knew, including family members or close associates.
However, he acknowledged that providing these guarantees was perhaps his "biggest mistake", saying it was what led to his current situation.
Chandra also defended the personal insolvency resolution plan approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
