IBC Revision Chart: Key Sections, Numbers and Timelines

This last note gathers the Code into one place for the final days before the exam. It follows the order of the Code, gives the section numbers worth remembering, and collects the thresholds and time limits that are tested most often. Each line points to the topic note that treats it in full. The position stated is the law as amended by the 2026 Amendment, with provisions not yet in force marked.

1. Structure of the Code

Figure 1: The five Parts of the Code

• Part I (sections 1 to 3). Extent, application and general definitions, including claim, debt, default, creditor, security interest and service provider (Topics 1 to 5)
• Part II (sections 4 to 77A). Corporate persons: CIRP, pre-pack, the creditor-initiated process, group insolvency, liquidation, voluntary liquidation, the NCLT and NCLAT, and offences (Topics 6 to 64)
• Part III (sections 78 to 187). Individuals and partnership firms: fresh start, insolvency resolution and bankruptcy, with the DRT and DRAT as authorities (Topics 65 to 71)
• Part IV (sections 188 to 223). The IBBI, insolvency professional agencies, insolvency professionals and information utilities (Topics 74 and 75)
• Part V (sections 224 to 255). Miscellaneous: cross-border insolvency, overriding effect, limitation, rules and regulations, and amendments to other laws (Topics 64 and 77)

2. Starting the CIRP

• Threshold. Default of at least one crore rupees (section 4); defaults during the section 10A period can never found an application.
• Financial creditor (section 7). Proof of financial debt and default; after 2026 the NCLT must admit if the application is complete and no proceedings are pending against the proposed professional; homebuyers need 100 allottees or 10 per cent (Topic 11)
• Operational creditor (sections 8 and 9). Demand notice, 10 days, no pre-existing dispute (Mobilox, 2017); information utility submission after 2026 (Topic 13)
• Corporate applicant (section 10). Special resolution of the shareholders, or three-fourths of the partners of an LLP, approving the filing (section 10(3)(c)); withdrawal after admission only under section 12A (Topic 14)
• Limitation. Three years from default under Article 137 (B.K. Educational Services, 2018), extended by acknowledgements (Topic 18)

3. Inside the CIRP

• Moratorium (section 14). Bars suits, enforcement, recovery and termination of essential supplies from admission until the plan or liquidation order; does not protect personal guarantors (Topic 21)
• Management (sections 16 and 17). The interim resolution professional takes over and the board is suspended (Topic 29)
• Committee (section 21). Unrelated financial creditors only; voting by value (Topic 26)
• Ineligibility (section 29A). Wilful defaulters, NPA holders, disqualified persons and their connected persons cannot submit plans (Topic 38)
• Plan (sections 30 and 31). 66 per cent approval; minimum payments to operational and dissenting financial creditors; plan binds everyone and extinguishes other claims (Ghanashyam Mishra, 2021; Topics 40 to 42)
• Immunity (section 32A). No liability for prior offences once a plan is approved and control changes (Topic 46)

Figure 2: Thresholds and voting majorities

4. Liquidation and Recovery of Assets

• Order (section 33). When no plan is approved in time, the committee decides on liquidation, or the plan is rejected or breached; restoration of the CIRP once by 66 per cent for up to 120 days (Topic 53)
• Liquidator (sections 34 to 36). Appointed on IBBI recommendation, not the resolution professional; supervised and replaceable by the committee; holds the estate as fiduciary (Topics 54 and 55)
• Secured creditors (section 52). Relinquish or realise their security; 14-day notice after 2026 (Topic 56)
• Waterfall (section 53). Costs; workmen for 24 months and secured creditors who relinquish; employees for 12 months; unsecured financial creditors; government dues and unpaid secured creditors; other debts; preference and equity shareholders (Topic 57)
• Avoidance (sections 43 to 51 and 66). Preferential (one year, or two for related parties), undervalued and fraudulent, and extortionate transactions; fraudulent and wrongful trading; proceedings survive the CIRP after 2026 (Topics 47 to 51)
• Dissolution (section 54). Application within 180 days, extendable by 90; direct dissolution under section 54(2A) (Topic 59)

5. Other Processes

• Pre-pack (sections 54A to 54P). MSMEs only; debtor-initiated with 66 per cent of unrelated financial creditors; ten lakh rupees default; 120 days (Topic 84)
• Creditor-initiated (sections 58A to 58K). Notified financial institutions; out of court with 51 per cent approval; 150 days plus 45; replaces fast track; not yet in force (Topic 62)
• Group insolvency (section 59A). Coordinated proceedings for companies in a group; not yet in force (Topic 63)
• Voluntary liquidation (section 59). Solvent companies; declaration of solvency; completion within a year after 2026 (Topic 60)
• Individuals and firms (Part III). Fresh start for small debtors, insolvency resolution and bankruptcy; in force for personal guarantors of corporate debtors (Lalit Kumar Jain, 2021; Topics 65 to 71)

6. Forums, Regulators and Penalties

Figure 3: Time limits to remember

• Adjudicating authority. NCLT for corporate persons and their guarantors (section 60); DRT for other individuals and firms (section 179); NCLT's wide jurisdiction under section 60(5) (Topic 72)
• Appeals. To the NCLAT within 30 days plus 15 (section 61), decided within three months after 2026; to the Supreme Court on a question of law within 45 days plus 15 (section 62) (Topic 73)
• Regulator. The IBBI (section 188) regulates insolvency professionals, agencies and information utilities and, after 2026, other service providers including valuers (Topics 74 and 75)
• Overriding effect. Section 238 gives the Code primacy over inconsistent laws, including State laws under Article 254 (Topic 77)
• Penalties. Criminal offences remain for fraud and concealment; sections 74 and 76 omitted; civil penalties under sections 64A, 67B, 67C and 235A after 2026 (Topic 76)

7. Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum default for initiating a CIRP?

One crore rupees under section 4, with ten lakh rupees for the pre-packaged process for MSMEs.

Who adjudicates the insolvency of a personal guarantor to a corporate debtor?

The NCLT under section 60, while the DRT handles other individuals and partnership firms under section 179.

Which provision gives the Code primacy over other laws?

Section 238, read with section 238A on limitation and the leading cases such as Innoventive Industries (2017).

8. Related Topics

• Topic 91: Leading Cases I. Validity, initiation and limitation.
• Topic 94: Amendments 2017 to 2026. How the law changed.
• Topic 95: Statistics and Outcomes. What the Code has delivered.