Neville Tuli-owned arthouse Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art has been placed under bankruptcy proceedings. The Mumbai bench of India’s dedicated bankruptcy court admitted a plea by state-run lender IDBI Bank to put the company under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) after it defaulted on dues worth around ₹125 crore.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) also appointed Girish Sriram Juneja as interim resolution professional (IRP) to oversee its day-to-day affairs and revival plans.

Mumbai-based Osian’s Connoisseurs is a pioneer art institution and auction house, and it houses an archive, library and a collection of antiquities, miniatures, sculptures as well as other cultural artefacts.

“It is important to mention here that the Corporate Debtor (Osian’s) is not disputing the availment of various loan facilities from the Financial Creditor (IDBI Bank). The corporate debtor also admits the default committed by them,” tribunal members HV Subba Rao and Chandra Bhan Singh said in an order dated December 9 that was uploaded on the NCLT website earlier this week. “There is no dispute with regard to the debt and default in this case…”

The company was originally declared an NPA in March 2010. But certain loans were restructured later.

“The corporate debtor is a going concern and functioning in the right spirit of meeting its obligations, hence the petitioner’s action is unjustified and uncalled for,” the company argued. “As per the own admission of the petitioner, the date of NPA is March 31, 2010 itself. This petition is filed 9 years after the default and therefore the same is not within the period of limitation and hence deserves to be dismissed.”