The NCLAT has set aside Section 95 IBC insolvency proceedings initiated against Kamlesh Rani Singla, suspended director and personal guarantor of Laxmi Pipes Ltd., before NCLT New Delhi, holding that Section 60(2) of the IBC mandates such personal-guarantor proceedings be filed before the same NCLT bench — here, Chandigarh — where the corporate debtor's own CIRP is pending, so NCLT New Delhi lacked both territorial and inherent jurisdiction to entertain the application.
The Tribunal separately clarified an adjacent point of procedure: the NCLT President's power under Rule 16(d) to transfer cases between benches is not confined by territorial limits, meaning a wrongly filed case can, in principle, be transferred rather than only dismissed outright — though that transfer power sits with the President, not with a party's unilateral choice of forum.
The ruling is a clear procedural warning for lenders and resolution professionals pursuing personal guarantors: filing at a convenient bench rather than the one actually handling the corporate debtor's CIRP risks the proceeding being set aside for want of jurisdiction, adding real delay to guarantor recovery efforts.