Opposition slams insolvency law over delays; BJP hits back, calls it ‘licence raj’ mindset

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha criticised the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on Wednesday, arguing it has failed to deliver timely resolutions due to tribunals’ limited capacity, overburdened with cases, while the BJP defended the 2016 law and accused the Opposition of clinging to “license raj” mindsets from the Nehruvian and Indira Gandhi eras.

Participating in the debate on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which has been brought afresh based on the recommendations of a select committee of the lower house, Opposition members also claimed that the code has become a tool to “rip” the assets of entities.

Hitting back at the Opposition over criticism of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), BJP MP Yaduveer Wadiyar said their viewpoint remains “stuck in that license raj era from Nehruvian time and the times of Indira Gandhi”, accusing them of opposing “a very important reform...just for the sake of Opposition”.

The UPA era enforced suppressive economic policies that weakened the country’s banking system, he said.

“From 2014 onwards, our Government has unclogged the system and undone much of the regressive policy that was done during that era, and the 2016 IBC was one such landmark policy that became the cornerstone of the Modi Government’s progressive outlook, balancing regulation for a more free outlook and ease of doing business especially in our finance and banking sector,” Wadiyar said.