The Manx high court has been asked to rescind the winding up of an international steel company with multi-million dollar debts.

Mumbai-based but Manx registered Global Steel Holdings Ltd was put into liquidation by court order earlier this year.

The company, incorporated in the Isle of Man in 1994, is registered at premises in Ramsey and is a holding entity for the steel investments of the Indian Mittal family.

Steel is produced through subsidiary companies based in India, Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

It appears in the Panama Papers offshore leaks database.

Craig Mitchell of Douglas-based Browne Craine & Co, and Deborah King and Daniel Imison both of London-based AlixPartners, were appointed joint provisional liquidators by the high court in May this year.

The first meeting of creditors was held at Burleigh Manor on Peel Road in August.

A creditor, the State Trading Corporation of India Limited, applied for an adjournment of an application by a Global Steel Holdings director to rescind the winding up order.

Deemster Andrew Corlett heard Global Steel Holdings Limited had debts outstanding of more than US$200 million owed to the State Trading Corporation of India.

The Deemster said a substantial part of the alleged debt was undisputed but there was apparently a substantial dispute about interest.

A proof of debt has been filed by the State Trading Corporation of India Limited on August 8.

Deemster Corlett said that it was ’somewhat strange, to put it mildly’, that this debt was not mentioned in Global Street Holdings’ statement of affairs.

The State Trading Corporation of India had requested time to properly consider its position and to put in evidence.

’It may be that they will support the application to rescind, it may be that they will oppose it, but at this stage they are unable to give the court any meaningful assistance,’ the Deemster said.

He accepted that while creditors had not appeared at earlier winding up proceedings it was right that they had the ability to appear at an application to rescind a winding up order.

The Deemster said one issue is whether Global Steel Holdings is solvent and whether the court has all the relevant facts.

He said: ’Bearing in mind the nature of winding up as a class remedy, the creditors’ views and in particular the views of the State Corporation of India ought to be properly presented in order that the court can come to a proper decision about this application which has certainly had a somewhat chequered history.’

In his judgment, the Deemster granted a short adjournment.