A Critical Study Of India's Cross-Border Insolvency Framework With Special Reference To The Uncitral Model Law And Global Insolvency Practices
- IJLLR Journal
- Jun 23
- 1 min read
Karishma D.M., LLM, Amity Law School, Amity University, Bengaluru
Dr. Jyotirmoy Banerjee, Assistant Professor, Amity Law School, Amity University, Bengaluru
ABSTRACT
Cross-border insolvency has become a central concern of contemporary commercial law because corporate distress increasingly involves assets, creditors, and proceedings dispersed across multiple jurisdictions. India’s present legal position remains structurally incomplete because the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, contains only limited enabling provisions for reciprocal arrangements and letters of request, while a full statutory framework modelled on international standards has not yet been enacted. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, 1997, offers a procedural architecture based on access, recognition, relief, and cooperation, and India’s Insolvency Law Committee in 2018 expressly recommended its adoption with calibrated modifications suited to domestic priorities such as public interest and the primacy of domestic proceedings. This study critically examines the inadequacies of India’s existing framework, the suitability of the UNCITRAL Model Law for Indian conditions, and the lessons that may be drawn from global insolvency practices. It argues that India’s delay in implementing a comprehensive cross-border regime has generated uncertainty for creditors, insolvency professionals, and investors, while comparative experience demonstrates that an adapted Model Law framework can improve coordination, predictability, and value preservation. The paper concludes that India should adopt a carefully tailored cross-border insolvency chapter within the IBC, harmonise it with existing company law provisions, and develop judicial and institutional capacity to make the regime effective in practice.
Keywords: Cross-Border Insolvency; Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016; UNCITRAL Model Law; Centre of Main Interests (COMI); Foreign Proceedings; Recognition; Relief; Judicial Cooperation; Global Insolvency Practices; India.
