New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- The Supreme Court has held that lenders and debenture holders exercising pervasive influence over a corporate debtor's management and policy decisions can be treated as related parties under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, and excluded from participating in the Committee of Creditors (CoC).

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran dismissed an appeal by a debenture holder seeking inclusion in the CoC, holding that its influence over the corporate debtor's policy-making brought it within the scope of Section 5(24)(m)(i) of the Code.

The Court observed that the requirement was not to be in the driving seat; a navigational role in determining policy and channelising business interests woul...