NCLT Ahmedabad Rejects Operational Creditor's Insolvency Plea Against Tecso Project, Imposes ₹2 Lakh Cost

The Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed Bharati Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.'s insolvency petition against Vadodara-based Tecso Project Ltd. over an alleged ₹18.91 crore operational debt.

The tribunal found a plausible pre-existing dispute over contractual interest, computation of the principal amount, ledger entries and supporting documents.

Judicial Member Shammi Khan and Technical Member Sanjeev Sharma also imposed a ₹2 lakh penalty on Bharati Trading under for misusing the insolvency process to recover debt.

Bharati Trading, which supplied goods to Tecso under various Sales Purchase Contracts, had claimed ₹18.91 crore. This included ₹8.49 crore towards principal and ₹10.42 crore towards contractual interest, calculated at 24% per annum compounded monthly.

The operational creditor relied on contracts, invoices, ledgers, balance confirmations, GST records, email correspondence and Commercial Interest Claim Notes to support its claim.

Tecso disputed the interest claim, arguing that Bharati Trading had added commercial interest and issued Commercial Interest Claim Notes without contractual authority.

It also questioned the authenticity of some Sales Purchase Contracts, saying they did not bear signatures of an authorised representative.

Tecso said it had made payments totalling ₹6.57 crore between March 2021 and March 2025. According to the company, only ₹2.19 crore remained outstanding towards principal after those payments.

Bharati Trading argued that Tecso had accepted the supplies without disputing their quantity, quality or specifications.

The tribunal, however, found that Tesco had indeed disputed the interest claims to an earlier demand notice in July 2, 2025. Also, it found that the operational creditor failed to establish its claim for the ₹8.49 crore.

As the present plea was pursued despite the potential dispute, the insolvency plea was dismissed with costs.