Pursuant to a notification dated 25 November 2016, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of India has appointed 1 December 2016 as the date on which the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Repeal Act, 2003 (SICA Repeal Act) would come into force.
The SICA Repeal Act, inter-alia, provides for repealing the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 and for the dissolution of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as well as the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR).
Further, the MoF has vide an independent notification dated 25 November 2016, provided that proceedings pending before the AAIFR and BIFR would stand abated from 1 December 2016 and that a company in relation to which such proceedings are abated, may make reference to the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) within a period of 180 (one hundred and eighty days) from the commencement of the IBC in accordance with the provisions of the IBC.
The said notifications may be accessed at: