Insolvency is a financial condition that triggers legal processes for discharging debts that cannot be repaid. Yet the application of these laws reveals significant disparities in how different classes of debtors are treated. From the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis to recent personal insolvency proceedings in India involving the reduction of a Rs 22,006-crore debt to Rs 6.5 crore, the global record suggests that insolvency frameworks often produce unequal outcomes depending on the debtor’s resources and connections.

