The Supreme Court of India has that the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is required for a corporate insolvency resolution plan that includes a merger or acquisition. This must be obtained before the committee of creditors approves the resolution plan.
In (2025), the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a 2:1 majority, with Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sudhanshu Dhulia ruling in favour and Justice SVN Bhatti against.
The judgment applied a strict interpretation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), and obtaining CCI approval was mandatory. It was observed that even though the IBC envisions expeditious resolution, statutory provisions could not be disregarded.
In this case, the merger involved two of the biggest players in the glass packaging market. The corporate debtor held a dominant position and the successful applicant in the resolution process was the second biggest player in the market, which meant their merger would have resulted in them holding an 80-85% market share, raising anti-competitive concerns.
