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M/S ASJ Finsolutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Vikram Bajaj

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1062Decided 28 Sept 2026
Civil Appeal No. 13023 of 2025
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

ASJ Finsolutions was the successful bidder in a liquidation-process e-auction for land owned by a corporate debtor, at a reserve price of ₹25.56 crore. It paid the initial 25% deposit but failed to pay the balance sale consideration within either the standard 30-day window or the extended 90-day window (with interest), instead seeking prior title deeds. The property was later re-auctioned for a higher price, and the NCLT initially ordered a refund of the forfeited deposit, but the NCLAT reversed that and upheld the forfeiture.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the NCLAT's decision and dismissed the appeal. It held that the e-auction notice explicitly provided for forfeiture of the entire amount paid, including the EMD, if a successful bidder failed to pay the balance sale consideration on time, and forfeiture followed automatically once that default occurred. The Court rejected the appellant's reliance on the "Triple Test" (rigged auction, lack of genuine bidder capacity, or extraneous prevention), finding none of those circumstances applied here, and held that a mere assertion of willingness to pay does not substitute for demonstrated financial capacity. The argument that liquidation regulations cap EMD at 10% of reserve price did not help the appellant, since it had voluntarily agreed to the auction notice's forfeiture clause covering the full deposit, not just the EMD.

Lesson Learnt

In an "as is where is" liquidation auction, a bidder who voluntarily accepts the auction terms cannot later resile from a forfeiture clause by citing regulatory caps or after-the-fact excuses for non-payment: courts will enforce the auction notice's own conditions.

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

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