Ruing Their Situation

The Ruias may well end up as a benchmark of how business shouldn't be conducted by families desperate to retain control. The National Company Law Tribunal also appears to be making an example of them.

Efforts to regain control of their steel business by clearing debts to shake-off bankruptcy proceedings failed when the insolvency court rejected the promoters' offer. Earlier there was an unsuccessful backdoor entry attempt through Numetal that failed - Rewant Ruias firm had a stake in the consortium.

The promoters offered to pay Rs 54,389 crore to settle outside the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), when the creditors' committee preferred ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000 crore offer in October last year. The move was after Section 12A was introduced in the IBC to provide corporate debtors another chance to regain control even after the NCLT admits a petition.

But the Essar Steel case was admitted before this section was introduced. Though the Ruias are sure to appeal against the NCLT order, a comeback seems nearly impossible.