Running a company for 30 years means living through every kind of legal fire — labour courts, counterfeiters, government payment disputes, personal guarantees, NCLT insolvency, and Section 95 personal reckoning. This is the full journey, in seven phases, and the seven lessons now encoded into Legal Shield.
2014 · Labour Court Wars: Baddi & Mass Resignation
Running a 30-year company at scale means managing thousands of employees across multiple states. During 2014–2017 we faced significant labour disputes at our Baddi manufacturing facility — strikes, worker grievances, union demand letters. I handled these single-handedly: negotiating with worker representatives, preparing for labour-court hearings, understanding the Industrial Disputes Act, and fighting for the company's position.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court case (CWP 1646/2016) centred on worker dismissals and compensation. By 2019, the company faced mass resignations as stress on working capital made salary certainty impossible. The lesson: legal battles with labour aren't about winning in court — they're about the human cost of business failure. When cash dries up, labour disputes multiply, and courts care about worker rights and procedural compliance, not your cash-flow problems.
Himachal Pradesh High Court labour case (CWP 1646/2016) →
2010 · IP Battles: Fighting Counterfeiters & Product Copiers
When you build a category from scratch, small companies rush in to copy. We fought trademark infringement cases against competitors using the Su-Kam name illegally, product counterfeiting cases against makers of fake inverters and batteries bearing our name, and IP disputes across the Delhi High Court, IP Appellate authorities, and regional courts.
These learnings became foundational to Legal Shield: how to protect your trademark, identify counterfeit threats early, escalate disputes with leverage, and understand your own exposure. Su-Kam's case (CS 1155/2018) established that we were the exclusive registered proprietor of the Su-Kam mark in Class 9 — but proving it took years of litigation. Brand protection is permanent warfare: one lost case and counterfeiters own your market.
Su-Kam trademark case (CS 1155/2018) →
2013 · Government Disputes: Solar Payment Recovery
During the 2013–2016 solar push, we won government contracts to install solar systems across multiple states. The contracts looked solid on paper. In reality, state governments delayed payments for 6–18 months. We installed systems, delivered products, then waited for government treasuries to move.
We filed cases in state courts and procurement tribunals, negotiated with power departments, filed RTI requests, and escalated to state regulators. Some payments came after years. Some never came. Government contracts kill working capital: the deal size is big, but payment terms are 6–24 months. If you can't fund the gap, you collapse. We couldn't.
2012 · The Personal Guarantee Trap
Every banker says the same thing: "It's routine. Standard clause. No big deal for a company of your size." What they don't tell you is that when cash flow tightens, your personal assets become the collateral for the company's debts. By 2016 I had stacked personal guarantees with IDBI, ICICI and other working-capital providers — over ₹80+ crore in cumulative exposure on my signature alone.
The trap: if the company misses payments, the bank doesn't just go after company assets — they come after your home, savings and personal investments. And under IBC Section 95, your personal bankruptcy becomes possible, not because you failed personally, but because the company did. Founders sign these without understanding the cumulative exposure: a ₹10-crore facility feels fine; five of them, and you've signed away liability exceeding your net worth.
NCLAT judgment on personal guarantees →
2018 · NCLT: Corporate Insolvency & Liquidation
On April 5, 2018, IDBI Bank and other creditors filed a Section 7 petition with the NCLT. Within 14 days it was admitted, and the company entered the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). A Resolution Professional was appointed. I lost operational control of Su-Kam.
What that means: the RP controls the company, the board is dissolved, management authority ends, and every decision goes through the RP. Your job is to submit a resolution plan that creditors vote on — and if it fails, the company goes into liquidation. CIRP was supposed to end in 180 days; it stretched into a year of meetings, failed plans and constant cash burn. By liquidation, the company's value had eroded 50%+.
Su-Kam was sold for ₹49.50 crore. The RP's costs alone exceeded ₹45 crore. Banks recovered only ₹8 crore. Everyone else lost everything.
2019 · Section 95 & Personal Insolvency: The Reckoning
As the company's CIRP left creditors with massive losses, they turned to me under IBC Section 95: insolvency proceedings against the personal guarantor. The logic is simple — you promised to repay if the company couldn't; the company couldn't; now you must.
The NCLT admitted my personal insolvency. An Insolvency Professional was appointed to oversee asset liquidation. My home became assessable. My bank accounts were reviewed. My personal investments were inventoried. Losing a company is devastating; losing personal assets over a guarantee signed 15 years earlier — when the banker said "it's routine" — is a different kind of pain.
I fought this through NCLAT and the Supreme Court, challenging the scope of personal liability and the fairness of Section 95. I also won a landmark case against IDBI Bank — the Delhi High Court in February 2024 directed the IBBI to establish formal conduct guidelines for Committees of Creditors. What looked like a personal legal problem became a precedent protecting future creditors and committees.
Delhi High Court CoC governance ruling → · Supreme Court judgment →
2023 · Rebuild: Su-Vastika & Changing the System
By 2023 the insolvency process resolved. I went through every court proceeding, fought Section 95 battles through NCLAT and the Supreme Court, and navigated personal asset liquidation. It took five years and cost everything I had built — but it gave me clarity I couldn't have bought any other way.
I launched Su-Vastika, a new venture focused on IoT-integrated warranty and customer-relationship management for power-system manufacturers. The insights from being destroyed by outdated legal structures became the product itself.
More importantly, I didn't just rebuild a business — I helped change the system. My cases in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court set precedents that made CoC governance transparent, made Section 95 more procedurally fair, and gave other founder-guarantors a better path than I had. You can be destroyed by the legal system, or you can use the experience to change it. That choice is what Legal Shield is.
Seven Legal Lessons That Built Legal Shield
1. Labour disputes multiply with cash stress. Workers know when a company is failing — disputes explode.
2. Brand protection is permanent warfare. Counterfeiters and copiers never stop; neither can you.
3. Government contracts kill working capital. Big deal size, brutal payment terms — can't fund the gap, you fail.
4. Personal guarantees compound silently. Each facility feels routine; together they're a bomb.
5. Creditor pressure moves fast. Days separate a demand letter from a Section 7/9 filing.
6. NCLT is not a negotiation. It's a legal process — you lose control. Plan for that.
7. Section 95 is personal reckoning. Your signature. Your personal assets. Your future.