To avoid delays in the appointment of insolvency professionals (IPs) during the bankruptcy process, the government has come out with a fresh set of guidelines that mandate Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to define the eligibility criteria for the IPs besides preparing a panel of IPs that can be appointed as resolution professionals, liquidators or bankruptcy trustees. The norms said that IPs will have to submit expression of interest to include their names in the panel. Once the consent is submitted, the IPs will not be allowed to refuse an assignment unless otherwise permitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) or the IBBI. “Any refusal on being appointed by the adjudicating authority, without sufficient justification, will be treated as deviation from consent and name will be removed from panel for six months,” the circular said. Experts said that the consent-based panel essentially gives freedom to IPs to opt in, but also introduces accountability at a point where the framework previously had none.