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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd vs Sandeep Mahajan & Ors

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal8 June 2020

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

The Tribunal's reasoning rests on the following principles, in the order the court takes them: A party claiming parity with secured financial creditors on the basis of being a secured operational creditor must establish the existence and validity of the security interest relied on; a recital in the final list of creditors or a footnote, without production of the underlying security agreement, does not suffice, and a charge that is expressly subservient to prior charges held by financial creditors does not confer entitlement to equal treatment with those creditors. Equitable treatment under a resolution plan is not equal treatment: the equality principle cannot be stretched to treat unequal creditors equally, and equitable treatment is to be accorded to each creditor according to the class to which it belongs, namely secured or unsecured, financial or operational, so that differential distribution between classes of creditors, arrived at through the commercial wisdom of the Committee of Creditors within the requirements of the Code and Regulations, is not per se impermissible. Where the Committee of Creditors has consciously decided, as a commercial matter, to reduce the amount payable to operational creditors in order to secure an increase in the overall value of a resolution plan, the Tribunal will not comment further on that decision and will treat it as a commercial decision of the Committee. A clerical or typographical error in the admitted amount of a creditor's claim in the final list of creditors, acknowledged by the resolution professional as an error requiring rectification, is to be corrected in the list and the proportionate payment under the resolution plan recalculated accordingly.

Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.

Judgment

As delivered

NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNALNEW DELHICompany Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.680 of 2019

[Arising out of Order dated 30.05.2019 passed by National Company Law Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi in CA-62 (PB)/2019 in C.P. No. IB- 46(PB)/2018]

IN THE MATTER OF: Before NCLT Before NCLAT

Power2SME Pvt. Ltd. .... Appellant AD-13, Basement (LGF), Tagore Garden, New Delhi, West Delhi - 110027

Vs.

1. Allied Strips Limited Respondent/ Respondent No.1 Through Mr. Sandeep Corporate Debtor Mahajan, Resolution Professional 14B, Manohar Park, 1st Floor, New Rohtak Road, New Delhi

2. G.P. Global Energy ... Respondent No.2 Private Limited 301, Udyog Vihar, Phase II, Gurugram, Haryana-122016

For Appellant: Ms. Shobha and Shri Pankaj Bhagat, Advocates

Shri Abhishek Anand and Ms. Honey Satpal, For Respondent: Advocates (for RP)

Shri Ritesh Kr. Tiwari, Advocate (R-2)

with 2

Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.688 of 2019

[Arising out of Order dated 30.05.2019 passed by National Company Law Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi in CA-62 (PB)/2019 in C.P. No. IB- 46(PB)/2018]

IN THE MATTER OF: Before NCLT Before NCLAT

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. .... Appellant Scope Complex, Core-7, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003

Vs.

1. Sandeep Mahajan Applicant/RP Respondent No.1 (Resolution Professional For Allied Strips Ltd.) 409, Ansal Bhawan, K.G. Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001

2. Committee of Creditors ... Respondent No.2 Represented through Canara Bank, Having its Circle Office, Delhi at 8th Floor, Ansal Towers, 38, Nehru Place, New Delhi - 110 019

3. G.P. Global Energy Pvt. ... Respondent No.3 Ltd. Resham House, Farm No.9/1, Amaltas Avenue, Westend Green Farm Society, Shamika, New Delhi - 110037

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 3

For Appellant: Shri Rajat Navet and Miss Mehak Bakshi, Advocates

Shri Abhishek Anand and Ms. Honey Satpal, For Respondents: Advocates (for RP)

Shri Ritesh Kr. Tiwari, R-3)

JUDGEMENT

(8th June, 2020) A.I.S. Cheema, J. :

1. Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.680 of 2019 has been filed by the

Appellant "Power2SME Pvt. Ltd." against Impugned Order dated 30th May,

2019 passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law

Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi) in CA-62 (PB)/2019 in C.P. No. IB-

46(PB)/2018 by which Order the Adjudicating Authority in CIRP initiated

by original Financial Creditor - Oriental Bank of Commerce against M/s.

Allied Strips Ltd. (Corporate Debtor) accepted the Resolution Plan

submitted by Respondent No.2 - G.P. Global Energy Pvt. Ltd.

The main grievance of the Appellant with regard to the Resolution

Plan accepted is that while the Financial Creditors are proposed to be paid

13.69% of their admitted claim by RP (Resolution Professional), the

Operational Creditors are proposed to be paid only 0.46%. Apart from this,

the grievance of the Appellant is that the RP accepted on record even in

the final list of creditors that all Operational Creditors were unsecured

except for the Appellant. It is thus, claimed that the Appellant deserve

similar treatment as the Secured Financial Creditors.

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 4

2. Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) 688 of 2019 has been filed by Appellant -

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. as Operational Creditor against the same

Impugned Order as has been challenged in Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) 680

of 2019 raising similar grievances as in Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.680

of 2019 that the Operational Creditors have not been given a fair deal

compared to the difference in percentage of 13.69% and 0.46%.

Additionally, this Appellant claims that the Appellant had submitted claim

of operational dues in Form B claiming a sum of Rs.107.92 Crores

and the RP has admitted claim of this Appellant to the extent of

Rs.73,07,76,273/-, however, in the final list of creditors issued by RP on

the date of 28th December, 2018, the admitted claim of this Appellant was

recorded only as Rs.39,01,99,828/-. On such basis, the Appellant claims

that the Impugned Order should be quashed and set aside.

3. Unless mentioned otherwise, we will refer to the documents from the

record of Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.680 of 2019.

4. The Company Petition CP IB 46(PB) of 2018 under Section 7 of

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC - in short) filed by Oriental

Bank of Commerce was admitted by the Adjudicating Authority on 16 th

March, 2018. Initially, one Mr. Mohan Lal Jain was appointed as IRP

(Interim Resolution Professional). The Application filed by the present RP

- Sandeep Mahajan before Adjudicating Authority for accepting the

Resolution Plan (Annexure A-9 - Page 129) shows that initial steps in the

CIRP were taken by the said Mohan Lal Jain who was earlier continued as

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 5

Resolution Professional. It appears that later on, in 6th meeting of the COC

(Committee of Creditors), decision was taken to replace the said Mr. Mohan

Lal Jain with the present RP - Sandeep Mahajan which was approved by

the Adjudicating Authority on 28th September, 2018. The Application filed

by the RP has given particulars of the course through which the CIRP went

through to the point of accepting of the Resolution Plan of Respondent No.2

- G.P. Global Energy Pvt Ltd. - Successful Resolution Applicant (SRA - in

short). Impugned Order shows that the President of NCLT acting as

Adjudicating Authority considered the Application filed by RP along with

its Annexures and kept in view the provisions of law found in IBC and the

regulations, and discussed in details to see if it was satisfied that the

Resolution Plan conforms to the requirements given in Section 30(2) of

IBC. The Impugned Order reproduced portion from the Resolution Plan

(copy of which is filed by the RP with Diary No.16741). The Impugned Order

reproduced portions from the Resolution Plan regarding payment of dues

towards resolution process costs, Financial Creditors, Operational

Creditors, Government dues, etc. It was noticed that the Operational

Creditors were to be paid in priority. Reference was made to Judgements

in the matter of "Binani Industries Limited vs. Bank of Baroda and

Anr." (2018 SCC OnLine NCLAT 521) and Judgement of the Hon'ble

Supreme Court in the matter of "Swiss Ribbons Pvt. Ltd. &Anr. vs. Union

of India & Ors." reported in (2019) 4 SCC 17 and the Resolution Plan was

examined keeping in view the said Judgements and examining the various

conditions required to be specified including requirement of mandatory

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 6

contents, the Adjudicating Authority accepted and approved the act of COC

(Committee of Creditors) approving the Resolution Plan of the SRA.

5. Subsequent to the date of passing of the Impugned Order, there has

been amendment in Sub-Section (2) of Section 30 and Sub-Section (4) of

Section 30 of IBC and also Judgement came to be passed in the matter of

"Committee of Creditors of Essar Steel India Limited Vs. Satish

Kumar Gupta & Ors." (Civil Appeal No.8766-67 of 2019) in the Judgement

dated 15th November, 2019. We have heard the arguments of Counsel for

both sides keeping these developments also in view to see, if even these

developments were to be kept in view, whether any change would be

necessary. The material requirement with regard to treatment of the

Operational Creditors can be seen from the amendment to Sub-Section (2)

of Section 30. The relevant portions of Section 30(2)(b) earlier read as

under:-

"30. (1) A resolution applicant may submit a resolution plan [along with an affidavit stating that he is eligible under section 29A] to the resolution professional prepared on the basis of the information memorandum.

(2) The resolution professional shall examine each resolution plan received by him to confirm that each resolution plan--

(a) ......................

(b) provides for the [payment] of the debts of operational creditors in such manner as may be specified by the Board which shall not be less than the amount to be paid to the operational creditors in the event of a liquidation of the corporate debtor under section 53;"

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 7

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2019 (26 of

19) amended this provision with effect from 16.08.2019 and now the same

reads as under:-

"30. Submission of Resolution Plan.--(1) A resolution applicant may submit a resolution plan [along with an affidavit stating that he is eligible under section 29A] to the resolution professional prepared on the basis of the information memorandum.

(2) The resolution professional shall examine each resolution plan received by him to confirm that each resolution plan--

(a) ......................

(b) provides for the payment of debts of operational creditors in such manner as may be specified by the Board which shall not be less than--

(i) the amount to be paid to such creditors in the event of a liquidation of the corporate debtor under section 53; or

(ii) the amount that would have been paid to such creditors, if the amount to be distributed under the resolution plan had been distributed in accordance with the order of priority in sub-section (1) of section 53,

whichever is higher, and provides for the payment of debts of financial creditors, who do not vote in favour of the resolution plan, in such manner as may be specified by the Board, which shall not be less than the amount to be paid to such creditors in accordance with sub-section (1) of section 53 in the event of a liquidation of the corporate debtor.

Explanation 1.--For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that a distribution in accordance with the provisions of this clause shall be fair and equitable to such creditors.

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 8

Explanation 2.--For the purposes of this clause, it is hereby declared that on and from the date of commencement of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2019, the provisions of this clause shall also apply to the corporate insolvency resolution process of a corporate debtor--

(i) where a resolution plan has not been approved or rejected by the Adjudicating Authority;

(ii) where an appeal has been preferred under section 61 or section 62 or such an appeal is not time barred under any provision of law for the time being in force; or

(iii) where a legal proceeding has been initiated in any court against the decision of the Adjudicating Authority in respect of a resolution plan;"

6. Learned Counsel for the Appellant referred to Judgement in the

matter of "Essar Steel" (supra) (para - 57) to submit that equitable

treatment is to be accorded to each creditor depending upon the clause to

which it belongs: secured or unsecured, financial or operational. It is

argued that even operational creditors could be secured operational

creditors and thus, it is stated that the Appellant who was accepted as a

Secured Operational Creditor, could not have been given amount which

was specified for the Unsecured Operational Creditors and should have

been treated in the column relating to financial creditors who happened to

be Secured Financial Creditors.

7. The Appeal (680 of 2019) in Appeal Page - 15 claims that the

Operational Creditors were discriminated and the Appellant has made a

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 9

chart showing percentage proposed to various stake holders in the

Resolution Plan as follows:-

8. Counsel for the Appellant (in 680 of 2019) referred to his Appeal and

submitted that the Corporate Debtor was declared NPA by lender banks in

2013 and Corporate Debtor was unable to run and operate its plant and

nobody was ready to provide financial help to operate the plant and it was

only Power2SME Pvt. Ltd. (Appellant) who helped the Corporate Debtor on

their request to supply raw material on credit basis. It is claimed that the

Corporate Debtor could not succeed even when reference was made to

BIFR for rehabilitation and even then the Appellant supplied the material

on credit basis with the object of reviving the operations. The Appeal claims

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 10

that thereafter Agreement dated 19.07.2017 was executed by the

Corporate Debtor and as per the said Agreement, the Appellant was a

Secured Creditor and the charge was also registered with the Registrar of

Companies. The learned Counsel for the Appellant at the time of

arguments did not point out or show such agreement to us. The final list

of creditors (Annexure - A5 Page - 66 at Page - 87) refers to hypothecation

deed dated 1st December, 2016. The Appellant has not pointed out even

this document from the record to us to claim that it was Secured

Operational Creditor on the basis of hypothecation deed. The Appellant is

merely relying on the entry made by RP in the final list of Creditors

(Annexure A-5) Page - 66 at Page - 86). If Annexure A-5 is perused, at

Page - 83, there is list of Creditors of the category of Operational Creditors

other than workmen and employees. At Serial No.53, there is reference to

the Appellant - Power2SME Pvt. Ltd. showing the admitted claim as of

Rs.47,59,89,098/-. At Serial No.78, there is reference to Indian Oil

Corporation showing the admitted claim as Rs.39,01,99,828/-. Indian Oil

Corporation is Appellant in Appeal No.688 of 2019. Coming back to the

Appellant of Appeal No.680 of 2019, at Page - 86, the footnote after the

list of Operational Creditors, reads as under:-

"1. All Operational Creditors are unsecured Except Power2SME Private Limited at S.No.53. Please see annexure 1 for security interest of Power2SME Private Limited."

The footnote leads us to Annexure - 1 (as at Page - 87) which reads

as under:-

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 11

"

Annexure I

Sl.No. Facility Security Interest-Power2SME Private Limited

1. Personal Guarantees of Gaurav Aggarwal and Mohender Aggarwal (dated 28-03-2017) For Rs.36 Crores each

2. Hypothecation of Stocks of HR coils whether Raw or in the process of manufacture and all products goods and any of the moveable property i.e. product from material supplied by the Power2SME of any kind vide hypothecation deed dated 01-12-2016 for Rs.80 Crores. Subject charge in favour of Power2SME is subservient charge to the charges of Financial institutions/banks due to following reasons:-

a) No NOC was taken by Power2SME Private Limited from FIs/Banks to create charge on stock on which banks/FIs are first and second charge holders.

b) Bank/FIs charge was created prior to the charge of Power2SME Private Limited.

"

9. The learned Counsel for the RP and SRA as well as COC point out

that the hypothecation deed being relied on by Appellant is subsequent to

the charge on stock which was created in favour of the banks and thus

the same was subservient to the banks and would be ineffective when

considered in the context of earlier charge which was created in favour of

the banks. To counter this, the learned Counsel for the Appellant

submitted that although it was stated in Annexure 1 (supra) that the

charge of the Appellant was subservient to the banks, it was of no

consequence as the Appellant had already got back the goods taking order

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 12

of the Adjudicating Authority and thus, it is claimed that such note in

Annexure - 1 had no relevance.

10. Question before us is whether the Appellant required separate

treatment at par with Secured Financial Creditors on the basis of the claim

that it was Secured Operational Creditor.

11. In this context, although the Appellant claims that it was a Secured

Operational Creditor and the security was registered with the Registrar of

Companies, the Appellant has not filed or shown us the Agreement dated

19.07.2017 referred in the Appeal or the deed of hypothecation dated

01.12.2016 referred by the RP in the final chart. Apart from this, the

contents of the Appeal disclose that the Appellant had been supplying

goods on credit to the Corporate Debtor when the Corporate Debtor was

in distress and in the process, claims that the Agreement dated

19.07.2017 was executed creating charge. The Appellant has not

challenged the contents of Annexure - 1 with regard to the fact that the

banks already had created in their favour charge on the stock of which the

banks /financial institutions had first and second charge and they were

such first and second charge holders, and no NOC was taken by the

Appellant for creating the charge it wants to rely on.

12. Again, the Reply filed by the SRA (Diary No.14419) shows that in the

7th meeting of the COC dated 22nd October, 2018 - Item No.5 discussed

with regard to the status of the Appellant - Power2SME in respect of the

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 13

ownership of the material lying in the factory of the Corporate Debtor at

Bahadurgarh. The proceedings read as under:-

"5) To discuss about the status of Power2SME Pvt Ltd (P2S) filed with Hon'ble NCLT, in respect of the ownership of material lying in the factory of CD at Bahadurgarh.

RP briefed upon the application filed by POWER2SME Pvt Ltd with Hon'ble NCLT, New Delhi in respect of the ownership of material lying in the factory of CD at Bahadurgarh and apprised that after his appointment as RP, he also contested against the Erstwhile RP's order dated 20-08-2018 of allowing the Power2SME Pvt Ltd to lift the material from the premises of CD, through his counsel - Mr. Abhishek Anand. It was further apprised that Hon'ble NCLT vide its order dated 11-10-018 clearly stated that Adjudicating Authority does not permit new RP to contest/challenge/review the decision of Erstwhile RP and further directed to comply with the order passed by Erstwhile RP on 20-08-2018 within two weeks and disposed of the Application.

The RP further briefed while going through the Order dated 20-08-2018 of Erstwhile RP it has been observed that in the Civil Suit No. 26/2018 in civil court Bahadurgarh, stay has been granted. In the order of the Erstwhile RP dated 20-08-2018 it is stated in Para 10(viii)(b), to quote interalia as

"The said material can be lifted by the applicant (P2S) at their own cost, arrangement and responsibility in the presence of the Representative of RP, subject to vacation of the restraints orders, if any, by any court/Tribunal, including but not limited to the cases pending in the civil court, Bahadurgarh" Unquote

Thereupon, RP apprised that pursuant to the Order passed by Hon'ble NCLT dated

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 14

11.10.2018, due to operational issues, the application will be filed before Hon'ble NCLT seeking extension of time to implement the direction of Hon'ble Adjudicating Authority as some part of the material is reported to be lying within the furnace/equipments of the CD in the factory at Bahadurgarh, the same can be taken out only when the relevant machines are operational, moreover there is no power connection available in the Plant at present, segregation of material from that of CD is also required."

It is apparent from record that the earlier RP - Mohan Lal Jain was

got replaced by the COC in the 6th meeting and the effort made by the new

RP to hold on to the material lying at the premise of the Corporate Debtor

could not succeed which is evident from the above proceeding. At the time

of arguments before us also, the learned Counsel for Appellant has stated

that the goods were hypothecated and the Appellant did get back the

goods. Having taken the goods, when Banks had prior charge, the

Appellant still wants to rely on the hypothecation of goods seeking equality

with the other Secured Financial Creditors and, the above proceeding

shows, new RP did not succeed as the learned Adjudicating Authority did

not permit the new RP to contest/challenge/review the decision of the

erstwhile RP and rather directed to comply with the Order passed by

erstwhile RP on 20.08.2018.

13. In Judgement in the matter of "Essar Steel" (supra), Hon'ble

Supreme Court discussed the equality principle with regard to Secured

and Unsecured Creditors and in para - 48, reference was made to

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 15

UNCITRAL Legislative Guide in which there was discussion with regard to

situation "Where secured creditors are not fully secured" and the

legislative guide in Para - 38 which reads as follows:-

"38. To the extent that the value of the encumbered asset will not satisfy the full amount of the secured creditor's claim, a number of insolvency laws provide that those secured creditors should vote with ordinary unsecured creditors in respect of the unsatisfied portion of the claim. This may raise difficult questions of valuation in order to determine whether, and to what extent, a secured creditor is in fact secured. For example, where three creditors hold security interests over the same asset, the value of that asset may only support the claim first in priority and part of the second in priority. The second creditor therefore may have a right to vote only in respect of the unsecured portion of its claim, while the third creditor will be totally unsecured. The valuation of the asset is therefore crucial to determining the extent to which these secured creditors are secured and whether or not they are entitled to vote as unsecured creditors with respect to any portion of their claim."

14. Referring to such BLRC Report 2015, Hon'ble Supreme Court

observed that it is of great help in understanding what is meant by

respecting the rights of all creditors equally. Paragraphs - 56 and 57 of the

said Judgement read as under:-

"56. .......Fair and equitable dealing of operational creditors' rights under the said Regulation involves the resolution plan stating as to how it has dealt with the interests of operational creditors, which is not the same thing as saying that they must be paid the same amount of their debt proportionately. Also, the fact that the operational creditors are given priority in payment over all financial creditors does not lead to the conclusion that such payment must necessarily be the same recovery percentage as financial creditors. So long as the provisions of the Code and the Regulations have been met, it is the commercial

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 16

wisdom of the requisite majority of the Committee of Creditors which is to negotiate and accept a resolution plan, which may involve differential payment to different classes of creditors, together with negotiating with a prospective resolution applicant for better or different terms which may also involve differences in distribution of amounts between different classes of creditors."

57. ......all lead to the conclusion that the equality principle cannot be stretched to treating unequals equally, as that will destroy the very objective of the Code - to resolve stressed assets. Equitable treatment is to be accorded to each creditor depending upon the class to which it belongs: secured or unsecured, financial or operational.

15. Keeping the above observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in

view, when we consider the facts of the present matter, although the

Appellant claims to be a Secured Operational Creditor, admittedly the

Appellant got back the goods and apart from that, it is clear that the

hypothecation deed relied on was subsequent to the first and second

charge which was already existing in favour of the banks and considering

this, it does not appeal to us that the Appellant can seek parity with the

Secured Financial Creditors who in the COC, have approved the

Resolution Plan, themselves taking huge haircut just to keep the

Corporate Debtor going concern.

16. At the time of arguments, the learned Counsel for the Resolution

Professional submitted that Valuation Report had been obtained at the

time of CIRP and that the total liquidation value of the Corporate Debtor

was about Rs.189 Crores. We have noticed that in the minutes of 7th

meeting of Committee of Creditors (Annexure R2/5 Diary No.14419 Page Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 17

- 122 at 128) the COC was apprised of the average liquidation value as of

Rs.1,88,75,72,688/-. The learned Counsel for the RP argued that the total

debt of the Corporate Debtor was of Rs.1993 Crores out of which the debt

of Financial Creditors who are all Secured Financial Creditors, is of

Rs.1654.69 Crores and that the debt of Operational Creditors against

statutory dues is Rs.218.94 Crores and the other Operational Creditors is

of Rs.203.41 Crores. Counsel for RP stated that the debt of employees is

of Rs.7.07 Crores. Referring to these figures, the argument raised by the

Counsel for Respondents is that even if Section 30(2)(b)(i) and (ii) as are

now applicable were to be applied, what comes to the Operational

Creditors and the Appellant would still be NIL. It is argued that the COC

with the object of keeping the Corporate Debtor a going concern over

various meetings deliberated with the SRA to maximise the value of the

assets and ultimately the Resolution Plan was approved by the COC with

99.84 percent vote in favour of the Resolution Plan of SRA. It is argued

that the Financial Creditors have also themselves given up huge claims,

in spite of being Secured Financial Creditors so as to accept receipt of

13.69 percent of their claims and the workers and employees were

provided 23.83 percent of their claims and in the circumstances,

Operational Creditors could get only 0.46 percent. It is argued that the

COC took commercial decision to accept the Resolution Plan and the

Adjudicating Authority had accepted the Resolution Plan and this Tribunal

may not disturb the Resolution Plan already accepted.

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 18

17. The Reply of the SRA (Diary No.14419 in Para 14) states that the

first Plan, which this SRA had submitted, had offered Rs.217.98 Crores

and from this the offer for Operational Creditors was of Rs.1.64 Crores

whereas, the approved Resolution Plan provides for Rs.235.86 Crores to

be paid but the Operational Creditors are given 0.50 Crores. It is stated

that although the total amount increased substantially, the amount for

the Operational Creditors reduced at the instance of the COC.

18. Looking to the above, what appears is that the COC has consciously

taken decision so as to persuade the SRA to increase the worth of the

Resolution Plan to the extent of Rs.235.86 Crores but in the process,

accepted portions payable to the Operational Creditors to be reduced.

Keeping in view Judgement in the matter of "Essar Steel", we would not

comment on this any further, considering the same as commercial

decision of the COC. It appears to be a conscious decision.

19. As regards the contention of the Appellant in Appeal No.688 of 2019

that its claim was accepted by RP to the extent of Rs.73,07,76,273/-, the

RP has in Reply (Diary No.14497 of Appeal No.688 of 2019), accepted that

in this regard, there was clerical/typographical error which can be

rectified. What is apparent from the Appeal No.688 of 2019 itself is that

the RP had initially accepted the claim of the Appellant - IOC (Indian Oil

Corporation Limited) only of Rs.39,09,99,828/- which after

correspondence was accepted to the extent of Rs.73,07,76,273/-. It seems

that subsequently, the earlier RP - Mohan Lal Jain was replaced. In the

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019 19

process, the error may have occurred but now the RP has fairly accepted

that this was an error which needs to be rectified.

20. For the above reasons, we do not find any substance in the Company

Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.680 of 2019 to interfere with the Impugned Order or

the Resolution Plan which has been approved. However, with regard to the

Appeal by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (Company Appeal (AT) (Ins)

No.688 of 2019), we direct that in the list of Creditors (Annexure A-6 of

Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No.688 of 2019) where there is reference to the

list of Creditors - Operational Creditors (other than workmen and

employees) in entry No.78 in place of Rs.39,01,99,828/- which is shown

as claim admitted, the figure shall be read as Rs.73,07,76,273/- and the

proportionate amount payable in the Resolution Plan to Indian Oil

Corporation Ltd. shall be counted accordingly.

Both the Appeals are disposed accordingly.

[Justice A.I.S. Cheema] Member (Judicial)

[V.P. Singh] Member (Technical) rs

Company Appeals (AT) (Ins) Nos.680 and 688 of 2019

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