NCLT Chandigarh Directs RP To Reconsider Homebuyers' Claims After Verifying ₹54 Lakh Payments

The Chandigarh Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 29 September directed the Resolution Professional (RP) of SRS Real Estate Ltd. to verify whether Rs. 54 lakh paid by two homebuyers to group entities was ultimately transferred to or accounted for by the corporate debtor before reconsidering their claims as financial creditors in a class under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).

A Bench comprising Judicial Member Khetrabasi Biswal and Technical Member Kaushalendra Kumar Singh held that payments to group entities do not, by themselves, establish financial debt owed by the corporate debtor under Section 5(8)(f) of the Code. The applicants had to establish a link between the payments and the corporate debtor's liability. It observed:

“The material presently available on record does not conclusively establish that the amounts paid to NKR Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and Topline Traders Ltd. were subsequently transferred to, accounted for, or otherwise reflected in the books and records of the Corporate Debtor,”

Raj Kumar Jindal and Vivek Aggarwal approached the NCLT under Section 60(5) of the Code after the RP rejected their claims in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of SRS Real Estate Ltd., which commenced on 22 December 2022.

The applicants claimed allotment of 54 flats in the project SRS Royal Hills Phase-II. They relied on builder-buyer agreements, emails, receipts and a memorandum of understanding dated 30 January 2018.

They contended that they had paid an aggregate Rs. 54 lakh through RTGS transfers to NKR Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and Topline Traders Ltd., group entities whose receipts were subsequently adjusted against flat allotments by SRS Real Estate. They sought admission of their claims as financial creditors in a class.

Further, they stated that the RP rejected their claims because the payments were not reflected in the corporate debtor's books of account. They argued that the rejection deprived them of participation in the CIRP and discriminated against them because other similarly placed homebuyers had been admitted as financial creditors.

The RP opposed the application, arguing that the claims were filed after the deadline of 6 January 2023. It also submitted that the payments were made to the two group entities, not SRS Real Estate, and that no evidence showed the funds had reached the corporate debtor.

He also contended that the corporate debtor's records did not establish the alleged allotments or payments and that the requirements of financial debt, including disbursement to the corporate debtor and a commercial effect of borrowing, had not been met.

The Bench held that delay alone did not justify rejecting the claims. It noted that Regulations 13(1B) and 13(1C), introduced in September 2023, permit consideration of claims filed after the initial deadline, subject to the prescribed conditions and the stage of the resolution process.

However, it found that the receipts and allotment documents did not establish whether the amounts paid to the group entities were transferred to or accounted for by SRS Real Estate. Without further evidence connecting the payments to the corporate debtor's liability, the Tribunal could not conclusively determine whether the applicants qualified as financial creditors in a class.

Accordingly, the NCLT directed the RP to verify any further evidence produced by the applicants and reconsider their claims. Until then, they would be treated as homebuyers under “Other Creditors” rather than as financial creditors in a class.