Episode Details

Listen to the first hearing of the new California water rights bankruptcy in Delaware, held 6/15/2026

The Searles Valley Minerals bankruptcy petition lists, as equity security holders of the debtors, Karnavati Holdings, Inc. and Searles Valley Minerals Inc.

The Delaware bankruptcy court hearing was an abnormal bankruptcy hearing held the day a bankruptcy was filed in Delaware, during a trial in California, before the “first day” hearing in the bankruptcy in Delaware scheduled for tomorrow.

The Delaware bankruptcy judge seemed concerned about what’s going on (in a way that reminded me of the movie Chinatown) and explained he might communicate with the trial judge in California.

Maybe the bankruptcy case venue will be transferred to California closer to the pending litigation. Or that would seem to make sense for access to evidence, records, and various practical considerations ... cutting against a Delaware venue although the Delaware emergency bankruptcy filing is technically possible and was made today on an emergency basis.