Default Is Default—Even On A Half-Disbursed Loan: NCLAT Clears Axis Bank's CIRP Trigger

On 6 October 2025, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) Principal Bench, New Delhi, delivered a terse but telling reminder that the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is triggered by default, not the degree of disbursement or the robustness of security. In Company Appeal (AT)(Ins) No. 1216 of 2023, Justice Ashok Bhushan (Chairperson) and Mr. Arun Baroka (Technical Member) dismissed the challenge mounted by Mr. Ammeet Kamal Agarwal, suspended director of Supreme Transport Organisation Private Limited, against the admission order dated 8 September 2023 passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi. The ruling not only affirms Axis Bank Limited's right to push the transport company into CIRP but also clarifies, once again, that arguments centred on partial disbursement, unregistered equitable mortgages, or a supposedly comfortable net-worth are non-starters once a financial creditor