NCLT Chennai Reiterates Unauthorised Communications Cannot Trigger CIRP, Dismisses ₹1.24 Crore Plea

The Chennai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 5 May dismissed an insolvency application filed by Daedong Shipping Company Limited, a South Korean shipping company, holding that communications from an unauthorised person cannot be used to establish an operational debt or initiate proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Judicial Member Jyoti Kumar Tripathi and Technical Member Ravichandran Ramasamy reiterated that corporate liability must rest on valid...

Highest Score In Evaluation Matrix Doesn't Guarantee Resolution Plan Approval: NCLT Kochi

Securing the highest score under the evaluation matrix does not give a resolution applicant any vested right to have its plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC), the National Company Law Tribunal at Kochi has reiterated. A coram of Judicial Member Vinay Goel said: “It is now well settled that the Evaluation Matrix is only a guiding tool intended to facilitate comparative assessment of Resolution Plans and does not confer any vested or enforceable right upon the highest-scoring...

Settled Debt Cannot Be Revived As Operational Debt On Breach Of Settlement: NCLT Kochi In Nest Realtors CIRP

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Kochi has dismissed an insolvency petition filed by Kunnel Engineers and Contractors Private Limited against Nest Realtors India Private Limited. It held that once construction dues were extinguished under a settlement agreement, a later breach could not revive the original debt for insolvency proceedings. A bench of Judicial Member Vinay Goel observed: “The settlement agreement specifically and unequivocally records that the earlier operational...

NCLT Hyderabad Approves Beaufond's ₹70.11 Crore Resolution Plan for KOBO Biotech With Restructuring Plan

The Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has approved Beaufond Industries Ltd's ₹70.11 crore resolution plan for KOBO Biotech Ltd. The plan provides for a composite restructuring. Beaufond will merge into KOBO Biotech, the API business will be demerged into a separate entity, and the surviving company will be renamed Beaufond Ltd. The coram of Judicial Member Rajeev Bhardwaj and Technical Member Sanjay Puri clarified that while approval of the resolution plan would suffice to...

NCLT Kolkata Rejects EPFO's ₹8.23 Crore Additional PF Claim In Corporate Power Liquidation

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Kolkata has dismissed the Employees Provident Fund Organisation's plea to admit an additional ₹88.23 crore claim towards provident fund damages and interest in the liquidation of Corporate Power Limited(CPL). A bench of Judicial Member Bidisha Banerjee and Technical Member Siddharth Mishra held that the additional EPFO claim, which arose from an assessment completed after the commencement of liquidation, could not be admitted in the process. “Since...

Title Disputes Over Mortgaged Property Do Not Bar Personal Guarantor Insolvency: NCLT Guwahati

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Guwahat has recently held that pending title disputes over mortgaged property do not bar insolvency proceedings against a personal guarantor, since such proceedings turn on the existence of debt and default rather than adjudication of property rights.A bench of Judicial Member Rammurti Kushawaha and Technical Member Yogendra Kumar Singh passed the ruling while admitting Canara Bank's insolvency petition against Keishing James Lalrongbawl, personal...

NCLT Delhi Directs Restoration Of Power To Ansal's Sushant Golf City Golf Course, Subject To Dues Payment

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at New Delhi Bench has directed restoration of electricity supply to the golf course at Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd's Sushant Golf City project in Lucknow. The relief is subject to the operator paying ₹2 lakh within three days and the balance ₹33.75 lakh within two months, while the Tribunal adjudicates a dispute over termination of its operating agreement during the company's insolvency proceedings. A bench of Judicial Member Ashok Kumar...

NCLT Bengaluru Bars Investors From Other Dreamz Projects From Taking Part In Samhita Project CIRP

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru has refused to allow an investors' association representing depositors in other Dreamz Infra projects to intervene in the project-specific insolvency proceedings for the Dreamz Samhita project, holding that it had failed to establish any project-specific interest. A coram of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada dismissed an application filed by Dreamz GK Investors Welfare Association seeking...

Commercial Transactions Cannot Later Be Recharacterised As Financial Debt To Invoke IBC: NCLT Chennai

The Chennai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 5 May held that parties cannot subsequently recharacterise ordinary commercial transactions as financial debt to invoke insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Judicial Member Jyoti Kumar Tripati and Technical Member Ravichandran Ramasamy dismissed Supreme Plascare India Private Limited's plea seeking initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Shiroo Polymers...

'Enormous Delay': NCLT Bengaluru Refuses To Condone Delay In Punjab Tax Dept's Claim In Falcon Tyres Liquidation

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru recently refused to condone a 1,784-day delay and consequently declined to admit a belated ₹6.09 crore tax claim filed by the Punjab State Tax Department in the liquidation of Falcon Tyres Ltd. A bench of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radhakrishna Sreepada dismissed applications filed by the Assistant Commissioner of State Taxes, Jalandhar, seeking condonation of delay and admission of the claim arising under the...

Resolution Professional Cannot Be Passive Spectator In Personal Guarantor Insolvency Process: NCLT Ahmedabad

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Ahmedabad has recently held that a resolution professional cannot remain a “passive spectator” and attribute delays in a personal guarantor insolvency process to the guarantor or the financial creditor without taking proactive steps. The tribunal made the observation while dismissing a plea to close the personal insolvency resolution process with liberty to initiate bankruptcy proceedings. A bench of Judicial Member Shammi Khan and Technical Member...

Oral Dispute Plea Without Supporting Material Does Not Establish Pre-Existing Dispute: NCLT Ahmedabad

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Ahmedabad has recently held that a corporate debtor's plea of an oral dispute over allegedly defective goods, without any supporting material, does not establish the existence of a genuine dispute, while admitting an insolvency plea over unpaid operational debt. A bench of Judicial Member Shammi Khan and Technical Member Sanjeev Sharma observed, “The plea of oral dispute, in absence of any supporting material, does not establish existence of a...