IBC Section 252: Amendments of Act 1 of 2004

Section 252 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016: Amendments of Act 1 of 2004

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

The Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Repeal Act, 2003 shall be amended in the manner specified in the Eighth Schedule.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 252

Section 252 amends the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Repeal Act, 2003 (SICA Repeal Act) to transfer pending BIFR/AAIFR proceedings to the Code.

Dissolution of BIFR and AAIFR: Amends Act 1 of 2004 in the manner specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Code, formally dissolving the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).
Transfer of Pending Matters: Allowed companies with pending BIFR/AAIFR schemes to approach the NCLT under the Code within one hundred and eighty days.
Historic Modernization Shift: Decisively replaced the protracted, litigation-heavy SICA regime with the time-bound, creditor-in-control framework of the Code.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Innoventive Industries Ltd. v. ICICI Bank (2018) 1 SCC 407: The Supreme Court delivered an exhaustive historical exposition on how Section 252 and SICA's repeal eradicated the notorious debtor-in-possession haven that chronic defaulters exploited for decades.
Swiss Ribbons Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India (2019) 4 SCC 17: Affirmed that replacing SICA with the IBC shifted India's corporate restructuring paradigm from endless management stalling to prompt value maximization.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Companies attempting to revive archaic BIFR rehabilitation schemes are legally precluded from doing so; the Supreme Court has confirmed that SICA is dead law, and all corporate restructurings must occur exclusively under the IBC.