MUMBAI, June 12 -- The city bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday cleared the way for personal insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani, admitting the State Bank of India's plea and rejecting Ambani's challenges to the enforceability of a personal guarantee furnished for Reliance Communications (RCom) group loans. Justice (Retd) Sushil Mahadeorao Kochey and technical member Prabhat Kumar admitted SBI's insolvency application over an alleged default of Rs.853.25 crore arising from guarantees executed in 2016 for loans to RCom and Reliance Infratel Ltd, and dismissed Ambani's interlocutory application challenging the Resolution Professional's (RP) report. The proceedings, pending since 2020, were delayed by multiple constitutional challenges to the personal guarantor framework under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, all of which were ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court. Ambani had raised two principal objections: that the guarantee was invalid because it was executed after the borrower's account had retrospectively been classified as non-performing, and that his liability stood discharged after approval of the RCom resolution plan. The tribunal rejected both. On the first, the NCLT held that the retrospective NPA classification had followed a failed restructuring exercise during which the guarantee was validly executed, and that the timing of the guarantee could not be questioned on the ground that the borrower was already in default. It also rejected Ambani's argument under the Indian Contract Act that the guarantee consideration was unlawful.A spokesperson for Ambani said the order related to "a disputed personal guarantee allegedly extended in 2016" and that the underlying facility had been availed of by RCom "for the repayment of its borrowings from Chinese lenders", adding that Ambani "derived no personal benefit from the funds" and the order would be challenged legally....