IRP (Insolvency Resolution Professional)

IBC, 2016 — Sections 16–22

In the IBC, "IRP" means the interim resolution professional (Section 16; the Code does not use "insolvency resolution professional") — an insolvency professional appointed by the NCLT upon admission of a CIRP petition to manage the corporate debtor's affairs until the resolution professional is appointed under Section 22. The IRP constitutes the Committee of Creditors (CoC) after collating claims (Section 21(1)) and manages the operations of the corporate debtor as a going concern (Section 20(1)). Inviting prospective resolution applicants to submit resolution plans is a duty of the resolution professional under Section 25(2)(h).

In practice, the IRP, the interim resolution professional, is the professional who runs the corporate debtor as a going concern in the opening phase of the resolution process under Sections 16-22 of the IBC, 2016 — keeping the lights on, preserving value, and constituting and servicing the Committee of Creditors. Inviting prospective resolution applicants to submit resolution plans is a duty of the resolution professional under Section 25(2)(h). For a creditor, the IRP is both gatekeeper and counterparty: the IRP verifies claims, sets voting shares, and manages the data room that resolution applicants rely on, so the quality of that conduct directly shapes how much value survives to be distributed. Counsel watch for an IRP who fails to preserve assets, runs an opaque process, or mis-collates the CoC, because those defects become grounds to challenge before the NCLT. Equally, a creditor that does not engage with CoC meetings forfeits influence over the plan. The roles of IRP and the later-appointed resolution professional are often conflated; parties keep the distinct functions clear when engaging during CIRP.