New Delhi, May 28 -- In terms of its broad sweep, few pieces of legislation compare with India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which completes a decade of existence on 28 May.

However, a dispassionate assessment of how far the IBC Act has met its objectives shows we still have a way to go. Its basic aims were lofty: "to consolidate and amend the laws relating to reorganisation and insolvency resolution... in a time bound manner for maximization of the value of assets," to "promote entrepreneurship [and] availability of credit and balance the interests of all stakeholders, including alteration in the order of priority of payment of Government dues," and to "establish an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India."

One of the overri...