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Gloster Limited v. Gloster Cables Limited & Ors.

with connected Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 81Decided 22 Jan 2026
with connected Civil Appeal No. 4493 of 2024
Justice K.V. Viswanathan · Justice J.B. Pardiwala

Background

During an insolvency resolution, a rival company claimed it, not the insolvent company, actually owned the "Gloster" trademark. The NCLT ruled the mark belonged to the insolvent company (and thus the resolution acquirer); the NCLAT reversed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held the NCLT overstepped its jurisdiction. It can only decide questions genuinely tied to the insolvency process, not stand-alone title disputes the approved resolution plan had left open. It set aside the NCLT's ownership finding but left the actual trademark question open for proper adjudication elsewhere.

Lesson Learnt

An insolvency tribunal resolves the company's insolvency; it isn't a general court for settling unrelated property or trademark battles that surface during the process.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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