Sunil Mulchandani Son Of Late Shri ... vs Omkara Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd
- CitationCompany Appeal (AT) (Ins) No. 1140 of 2024
Ratio decidendi
The rule this decision rests on
Where a loan agreement provides for pre-equated monthly instalments (PEMI) of interest payable from the date of each disbursement, distinct from equated monthly instalments (EMI) of principal and interest commencing only after the moratorium period, a default in payment of PEMI is a default in repayment of debt, and the moratorium on EMI does not postpone the date of default in respect of PEMI. Where the bank statement of the corporate debtor's account records the credit of the disbursed sums, the disbursement is established for the purposes of Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and subsequent onward transfers by the bank or a third party are not shown to alter the fact of disbursement to the corporate debtor absent concrete evidence that the financial creditor itself effected them. An application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is to be allowed where the existence of a debt, a default, and the minimum threshold of Rs. 1 crore are shown; a separate application alleging fraudulent or malicious initiation or false information (Sections 65 and 75) or seeking prosecution for false evidence does not, without specific particulars, affect the adjudication of the Section 7 application.
Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.
Judgment
As delivered
(Arising out of the Order dated 02.05.2024 passed by the National Company Law Tribunal, Indore Bench, Indore (M.P.) in CP (IB) 53 of 2023)
IN THE MATTER OF:
Sunil Mulchandani Son of Late Shri Gopichand Mulchandani - Ex- Director of The Suspended Management of M/S Chinar Realty Private Limited, Having Residence At ...Appellant 1, Eidgah Hills, Bhopal462026 (M.P.)
Versus
Omkara Assets Reconstruction Private Limited Registered Office At No.9, M.P. Nagar First Street Kongu Nagar Extension Tirupur- 641607 Tamil Nadu Corporate Office At C/515 Kanakia Zillion Junction Of Lbs Road And CST Road Annexe Near Equinox, Kurla (West) Mumbai- 400070 Maharashtra ...Respondent
Present For Appellants: Mr. Abhijeet Sinha, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Mitra, Mr. Saikat Sarkar, Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Ms. Anandita Rana, Mr. Raghvendra N. Budholia, Ms. Pragya Barsaiyan, Ms. Vanshita Gupta, Ms. Aishwarya Mishra, Ms. Lavanya Pathak, Advocates.
For Respondents: Mr. Ratnanko Banerji, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Kiran Sharma, Ms. Niharika Sharma, Ms. Aritra Deb, Mr. Somdutta Bhattacharya, Advocates for R-1.
Mr. Utsav Mukherjee, Mr. Saksham Ahuja & Mr. Mayukh Roy, Advocates for RP. Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
With
Company Appeal (AT) (Ins) No. 1141 of 2024 & I.A. No. 4095, 4096, 5549 of 2024 & 1088 of 2025
(Arising out of the Order dated 02.05.2024 passed by the National Company Law Tribunal, Indore Bench, Indore (M.P.) in CP (IB) 54 of 2023)
IN THE MATTER OF:
Sunil Mulchandani Son Of Late Shri Gopichand Mulchandani - Ex-Director Of The Suspended Management Of M/S Chinar Reality Private Limited, Having Residence At 1, Eidgah Hills , Bhopal- ...Appellant 462026 (M.P.) Versus
Omkara Assets Reconstruction Private Limited Registered Office At No.9, M.P. Nagar First Street Kongu Nagar Extension Tirupur- 641607 Tamil Nadu Corporate Office At C/515 Kanakia Zillion Junction Of Lbs Road And Cst Road Annexe Near Equinox, Kurla (West) Mumbai- 400070 Maharashtra ...Respondent
Present For Appellants: Mr. Abhijeet Sinha, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Mitra, Mr. Saikat Sarkar, Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Ms. Anandita Rana, Mr. Raghvendra N. Budholia, Ms. Pragya Barsaiyan, Ms. Vanshita Gupta, Ms. Aishwarya Mishra, Ms. Lavanya Pathak, Advocates.
For Respondents: Mr. Ratnanko Banerji, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Kiran Sharma, Ms. Niharika Sharma, Ms. Aritra Deb, Mr. Somdutta Bhattacharya, Advocates for R-1.
Mr. Utsav Mukherjee, Mr. Saksham Ahuja & Mr. Mayukh Roy, Advocates for RP.
Page 2 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
JUDGEMENT
(14.05.2025)
NARESH SALECHA, MEMBER (TECHNICAL)
1. The present two appeals have been filed against the same Impugned Order
dated 02.05.2024 passed by National Company Law Tribunal, Indore Bench
(M.P.) ('Adjudicating Authority') in C.P. (IB)/ 53 (MP)2023 and CP (IB)/54
(MP) 2023 under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
('Code').
2. The Company Appeal bearing Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 of 2024
has been filed by Sunil Mulchandani- Ex Director of the Suspended Management
of M/s Chinar Realty Pvt. Ltd. against Omkara Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd.
(Respondent), whereas the second appeal bearing Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No.
1141 of 2024 has been filed by Sunil Mulchandani- Ex Director of the Suspended
Management of M/s Chinar Retails and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. against
Omkara Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd., (the Respondent).
3. We note that there is one common Impugned Order which has been
challenged by the same Appellant, however, in different capacity as he was
Suspended Director of two different Corporate Debtors against whom the
Impugned Order was passed.
4. Both the cases have been pleaded by their counsel in joint manner and
issues and facts are also same, hence, we shall decide both the appeals by one
common order.
Page 3 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
5. It has been brought out that the loan of Rs. 100 Crores was sanctioned by
Dewan Housing Finance Ltd. ('DHFL') (Original Financial Creditor) vide
sanction letter dated 27.07.2017 followed by loan agreement dated 28.07.2017
with Chinar Realty Pvt. Ltd. as borrower and Chinar Retails and Infrastructure
Pvt. Ltd. as co-borrower. The said loan was to be paid back in 24 equated monthly
instalments (EMIs) commencing after 48 months from the date of first
disbursement of the loan.
6. It has also been brought to our notice that said loan of Rs. 100 Crores was
also secured by the personal guarantee as well as the corporate guarantee given
by the promoters along with demand promissory notes in favour of original
financial creditor (DHFL). We note that the said loans was later assigned by the
original Financial Creditor in favour of the Respondent M/s Omkara Assets
Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd., ('Financial Creditor') vide assignment deed dated
10.01.2023.
7. An application was filed under Section 7 of the Code by the Financial
Creditor for default amount of Rs. 201,67,59,990/- consisting of "principal"
amount of Rs. 86,80,55,673/- "interest" of Rs. 17,42,120/- and "penal interest" of
Rs. 43,69,62,197/- as on 31.05.2023. It is noted that in Part IV of Section 7
application filed before the Adjudicating Authority, the date of default has been
indicated as 15.08.2018.
8. The Appellant gave the background of the case and pleaded that there has
been no debt and default. The Appellant acknowledged that the loan agreement
Page 4 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
was indeed executed by the Corporate Debtor and the original Financial Creditor,
however, the original Financial Creditor disbursed only Rs. 90.50 Crores and not
full Rs. 100 Crores as agreed upon between the borrowers/ Corporate Debtor and
the original Financial Creditor. The Appellant submitted that it is the Financial
Creditor who had breached the loan agreement and not the Corporate Debtor. The
Appellant further argued that there has been short disbursal of Rs. 9.5 Crores
which has caused great hardship to the Corporate Debtor which led to acute
financial distress for the Corporate Debtor.
9. The Appellant stated that there was moratorium of 48 months on payment
of principals and interest from the date of first disbursement and referred to the
loan agreement dated 28.07.2017 signed by M/s Chinar Realty Pvt. Ltd. and M/s
Chinar Retails and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., with the original Financial Creditor.
The Appellant referred to Clause B in the Schedule of the Loan Agreement
according to which the repayment of loan along with interest was to be made in
24 Equated Monthly Instalments ('EMIs') commencing after 48 months from the
date of disbursement. The Appellant elaborated that the first date of disbursal was
31.07.2017 and hence, for the next 48 months i.e., four years i.e., up to
30.07.2021, there was no amount payable by the Corporate Debtor.
10. The Appellant submitted that however, the original Financial Creditor
issued a notice on 08.11.2019 to the borrowers/ co-borrowers/ guarantors/
mortgagers to repay outstanding amount, followed by demand notice dated
02.09.2020 and demand notice dated 05.12.2022. It is the case of the Appellant
Page 5 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
that this itself indicate that the original Financial Creditor acted with prejudice
mind to lead the Corporate Debtor into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process
('CIRP') and subsequently into liquidation. The Appellant further argued that
there was no amount payable before 30.07.2021, as such the Section 7 application
should not have been allowed by the Adjudicating Authority.
11. The Appellant submitted that although technically the loan might have
been disbursed in the account of the Corporate Debtor, however, the money was
taken back by the original Financial Creditor immediately thereafter as evident
from the loan accounts maintained by the Axis Bank. The Appellant as an
example, referred to the accounts statement maintained by Axis Bank in favour
of Chinar Realty Pvt. Ltd. attached as page no. 1055 of the appeal, volume -IV,
where on 31.07.2017 the money of Rs. 80 Crores is indicated to be disbursed by
the original Financial Creditor in favour of the Corporate Debtor, however, on the
same date two entries reflects that same amount has been debited from the
accounts of the Corporate Debtor and transferred to two different accounts: TRF
to 914020017664947 & TRF to 912020026151278, thereby nullifying the
original disbursal. The Appellant emphasised that thus although the first tranche
of Rs. 80 Crores was stated to have been disbursed in favour of the Corporate
Debtor on 31.07.2017, however, on the same date, by two different entries the
same money has been transferred to some other accounts. As such there has not
been any dispersal of money by original Financial Creditor to the Corporate
Debtor.
Page 6 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
12. The Appellant stated that he had deposited regular instalment, in the
specific account especially created amongst the parties for the same purpose and
there was negative balance i.e., credit balance as on 31.03.2018 and thus, there
could have been no default on the said date of 18.05.2018 which has been alleged
by the Respondent in original C.P. (IB)/ 53 (MP)2023.
13. The Appellant submitted that he had filed an I.A. No. 260/2023 under
Section 65/75 of the Code alleging malicious intentions of the Respondent for
initiating CIRP against the Corporate Debtor and the company petition itself was
filed on the basis of false and fabricated facts. The Appellant submitted that in the
said I.A., he has alleged that there has been no default and also further alleged
that the company petition filed by the Financial Creditor was made based on bald
averments and wrong pleadings, compelling the Appellant to file an IA under
Section 65 and 75 of the Code.
14. It is the case of the Appellant that without proper adjudication of the said
IA No. 260/2023, the Adjudicating Authority could not have passed the Impugned
Order. The Appellant submitted that the said IA was not only dismissed without
considering the merit of the case and the Adjudicating Authority did not even
recognise the averments made by the Appellant.
15. The Appellant submitted that the first repayment of EMI was to start from
30.07.2021, therefore, it was wrong on the part of the Financial Creditor to raise
the issue of default, just after 10 months of the first disbursement which shows
malafide intentions of the Respondent/ Financial Creditor.
Page 7 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
16. Concluding his arguments, the Appellant requested this Appellate Tribunal
to set aside the Impugned Order and allow his appeal.
17. Per contra, the Respondent denied all averments and allegations made by
the Appellants as misleading, baseless and malicious with the sole purpose of
derailing the CIRP process. The Respondent/Financial Creditor stated that the
Adjudicating Authority has considered all the facts and passed well reasoned
speaking order which need no interference.
18. The Respondent also gave the facts of the case and submitted that the
Appellant had approached the original Financial Creditor for availing financial
facilities of Rs. 100 Crores required by the Corporate Debtors for construction
and development work on Phase-I and Phase-II of the project Chinar Dream CT
and based on request of the Resolution Professional, the loan was sanctioned and
required documentation for loan agreement was signed on 28.07.2017.
19. The Respondent submitted that he stepped into the shoes of the original
Financial Creditor through deed of the assignment on 10.01.2023 and thereafter
the application was filed under Section 7 of the Code. The Respondent submitted
that the total amount of Rs. 90.50 Crores was disbursed to the Corporate Debtor
in few instalments i.e., Rs. 80 Crores on 31.07.2017, Rs. 1.5 Crores on 19.09.2017
, Rs. 3 Crores on 29.12.2017 and Rs. 6 Crores on 31.03.2019, thus, the total Rs.
90.50 Crores was disbursed in four tranches.
20. The Respondent denied that the default could have taken place only after
48 months after the dispersal of first instalment and submitted that the loan
Page 8 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
agreement categorically mentioned the fact regarding "pre equated monthly
installment" ('PEMI') which was to be paid from the respective dates of
disbursement to the date immediately prior to the date of commencement of EMI
as mentioned in the Schedule hereunder written. The Respondent has also
referred to the Clause 3.1 r/w Clause 3.4 of the loan agreement according to which
the said loan together with interest was to be paid by the 15th day of each month
in advance for the respective months. The Respondent emphasised that the said
repayment of PEMI was payable monthly from the date of first disbursement
itself.
21. Thus, it is the case of the Respondent that the default could have taken
place immediately after the first disbursement of the loan in case the Corporate
Debtor failed to honour its commitment towards repayment of PEMI as
enumerated in the loan agreement.
22. The Respondent submitted that the Corporate Debtor could not pay the
instalment on due dates and after waiting for sometime, the Respondent was
compelled to take legal recourse by issuing the notice to the Corporate Debtors
for repayment. The Respondent submitted that on failure of the Corporate Debtor
to repay the said amount, the Respondent filed a company petition under Section
7 of the Code which has been admitted by the Adjudicating Authority.
23. The Respondent also denied the averments of the Appellant that there has
not been any disbursement. The Respondent submitted that vary fact the bank
statement of Axis bank w.r.t. accounts of the Corporate Debtor referred by the
Page 9 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
Appellant in his pleadings, categorically stipulated the disbursement of money in
the accounts of the Corporate Debtor's and thus, the debt has been crystalised.
24. The Respondent has also submitted that the Appellant cannot tale blow hot
and cold position since at one time the Appellant stated that there has been no
disbursal of money by the original Financial Creditor to Corporate Debtor since
the money is alleged to have taken back by the original Financial Creditor,
whereas at the same time, the Appellant has stated that he has been paying
instalments regularly to the original Financial Creditor and further the debt could
not have been mature before 48 months i.e., by 30.07.2021. It is the case of the
Respondent that such averments of the Appellant are impermissible and perverse.
25. The Respondent also denied the fact that the IA No. 260/2023 has anything
to do with the Respondent's right to file company petition under Section 7 of the
Code, which was allowed by the Adjudicating Authority vide the Impugned Order
dated 02.05.2024. The Respondent empathetically denied the averments made in
IA No. 260 of 2023 to be bald allegations without any basis. The Respondent
submitted that since there was no basis whatsoever, in the said IA No. 260 of 2023
and there was no substance referring to Section 65 and 75 of the Code and
therefore, the Adjudicating Authority correctly considered and dismissed the said
I.A. No. 260/2023 of the Appellant.
26. Concluding his remarks, the Respondent submitted that the said appeals
have been filed with malicious intention to derail the process of CIRP and
therefore, the appeal should be dismissed with exemplary cost.
Page 10 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
Findings
27. We have already noted the facts in the pleading and shall not repeat the
same. We need to deliberate on the following issues raised by the Appellant, in
order to decide the appeals before us.
Issue No. (I) Whether, there was any debt or disbursement made to the
Corporate Debtor.
Issue No. (II) Whether, the EMIs were not payable before 48 months of the
first disbursement of money i.e., 31.07.2017 and therefore no default could have
taken place before 30.07.2021.
Issue No. (III) Whether the IA. No. 260/2023 filed by the Corporate Debtor
under Section 65 & 75 of the Code has not properly been adjudicated by the
Adjudicating Authority and whether the Impugned Order could have been passed.
28. Issue No. (I) Whether, there was any debt or disbursement made to the
Corporate Debtor.
As far as the first point is concerned, we take into account the bank
statement referred to by the Appellant as well as by the Respondent which
reads as under :-
Page 11 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
Page 12 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
From the above, it is seen that the first tranche of Rs. 80 Crores was
indeed disbursed by the original Financial Creditor in favour of the
Corporate Debtor on 31.07.2017. We also note that similarly other three
tranches i.e., Rs. 1.5 Crores was disbursed on 19.09.2017, Rs. 3 Crores was
disbursed on 29.12.2017 and Rs. 6 Crores was disbursed on 31.03.2018,
thus total Rs. 90.50 Crores was disbursed by the original Financial Creditor
in the account of the Corporate Debtor.
The Appellant's contention that although the money might have
been technically disbursed in the accounts of the Corporate Debtor,
however, the money was transferred, on the same date to the other
accounts. It is the case of the Appellant that on 31.07.2017 there was a
transfer Rs. 80,00,00,000/- to Account No. 912020035075808, being the
Escrow Account of Chinar Realty from DHFL, followed immediately by
the transfer of (i) Rs. 77,41,23,636/- and (ii) Rs. 2,58,76,364/- (totals
amounting to Rs. 80,00,00,000/-) to accounts bearing Nos.
914020017664947 and 912020026151278 respectively, hence there was no
effective disbursement of money to the Corporate Debtor by the original
Financial Creditor.
In this regard, we note that the money was credited in the accounts
of the Corporate Debtor as reflected by the bank account maintained by the
Axis Bank (who incidentally is not Financial Creditor or the assignee of
the debt in the present case) and the fact that money was transferred to other
Page 13 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
accounts. We observe that such facts have got no bearing of the disbursal
of money by the original Financial Creditor to the Corporate Debtor. The
Appellant could not give any concrete evidence to establish that the money
was illegible or wrongly or malafidly withdrawn by the original Financial
Creditor. We wonder how the original Financial Creditor, who had no
direct control over the banker (Axis Bank) of the Corporate Debtor, would
have made such manipulation. No more details of the same have been
made in the original appeal book. Hence, we do not find merits in the
arguments of the Appellant on this account, as such we are not in a position
to accept the contentions of the Appellant on this ground and the same is
rejected.
29. Issue No. (II) Whether, the EMIs were not payable before 48 months of
the first disbursement of money i.e., 31.07.2017 and therefore no default could
have taken place before 30.07.2021.
The Appellant has taken another plea that there was no default as the
money was payback by the Corporate Debtor to the Financial Creditor only
after passage of 48 months from the first disbursement i.e., 31.07.2017. The
Appellant conceded that the first disbursement was indeed made on
31.07.2017 of Rs. 80 Crores. Hence, it is the case of the Appellant that
only after 48 months i.e., only on 30.07.2021 the money was payable by
the Corporate Debtor.
Page 14 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
In this connection, we would like to refer to the relevant portion of
the loan agreement which reads as under :-
***** Page 15 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
*****
Page 16 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
*****
Page 17 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
*****
Page 18 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
*****
*****
Page 19 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
*****
***** Page 20 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
Page 21 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
From above loan account, we note that the term EMI and
PEMI have been defined which reads as under :-
"Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) means the amount of monthly payment necessary to amortize the Loan with Interest.
Pre Equated Monthly Instalment (PEMI) means interest at the rate payable on the Loan from the respective dates of disbursement to the date immediately prior to the date of commencement of EMI as mentioned in the Schedule hereunder written."
The EMI has been referred to the monthly payment w.r.t.,
amortization on loan and interest. In this regard, the contention of the
Appellant seems valid that EMI could have been due only when the
amortization period becomes mature and therefore, first EMI was
payable only after 48 months of the first disbursement i.e., due on
30.07.2021. However, it is significant to note that there is another
definition of pre-equated monthly instalment (PEMI) as provided in the
loan agreement. The loan agreement also contained the specific
provisions dealing with PEMI which clarifies that interest would be
payable on the loan from respective dates of disbursement to the date
immediately prior to date of commencement of EMI as mentioned in
schedule of the loan.
We need to understand the implication of "repayment of loan"
as stipulated in the loan agreement. In Clause 3.1, it has been agreed
Page 22 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
between the parties that borrower shall repay the said loan together with
interest accrued as stipulated in the Schedule-I of the loan agreement,
by 15th of each month in advance for respective months. It has also
mentioned in Clause 3.1 that interest will be payable monthly from the
date of first disbursement. Thus, it has been clearly stipulated that the
interest is payable monthly from the date of first disbursement which is
different condition then of EMI, wherein EMI is required to be paid only
after 48 months of the first disbursement.
We also note that in Clause 3.4 of the loan agreement, it has
once again been stipulated that PEMI shall be paid from the date of first
disbursement till commencement of repayment through EMI. It has also
mentioned in the loan agreement that if there is a default in repayment
of interest of principal for two consecutive months, it shall be
constituted as an event of default or violation of terms & conditions of
the sanction and the financial creditor may recall the entire loan. Thus,
we observe that there are two distinct terms of EMI & PEMI which
have been stipulated in the loan agreement and which have been
prescribed for different purposes. We need to understand that the EMI
is the concept for amortization of loan alongwith interest, which is
required to be repaid after 48 months of disbursement of first instalment.
On the other hand, the concept of PEMI is regarding regular payment
of interest which is to begin immediately on the first disbursement of
Page 23 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
loan. We have already noted that the first disbursement was made on
31.07.2017, thus, the pre-equated monthly instalment (PEMI) was to
being immediately thereafter and not after 48 months as pleaded by the
Appellant. In view of above detailed analysis, we do not find any merit
in the contentions of the Appellant and the same is rejected.
30. Issue No. (III) Whether the IA. No. 260/2023 filed by the Corporate
Debtor under Section 65 & 75 of the Code has not properly been adjudicated by
the Adjudicating Authority and whether the Impugned Order could have been
passed.
As regard, the contentions of the Appellant that the Appellant
had filed an IA No. 260 of 2023 alleging the wrong filing of application
under Section 7 of the Code by the Respondent and giving false
information in the said application filed by the Respondent before the
Adjudicating Authority, which forced the Appellant to file the said I.A
under Section 65 of the Code (Fraudulent or malicious initiation of
proceedings) and Section 75 of the Code (Punishment for false
information furnished in application). We note that in IA No. 260 of
2023, only general averments are made and no specific details have
been furnished. In any case, such application does not change the
contour of the application filed by the Financial Creditor under Section
7 of the Code, which was allowed by the Adjudicating Authority and
the Impugned Order was passed.
Page 24 of 26 Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
During pleading the Appellant also brought to the notice, that
the Appellant had filed one IA under Rule 11 of the NCLT Rules, 2016
r/w Section 340 of the CRPC, 1973 r/w Section 195 & 200 of IPC for
seeking permission to prosecute the authorised officer of the
Respondent for giving false evidence in the proceedings and the said
application is stated to be pending before the Adjudicating Authority.
Again, we would like to observe that such application does not change
the fate of the application filed under Section 7 of the Code. The
Appellant can continue to take legal remedies if any, in accordance with
law for any other grievance he may have.
We amplify that to satisfy the Section 7 application, the basic
ingredients as stipulated in the Code and as elaborated in great details
by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in various judgements including in
matter of Innoventive Industries Ltd. v/s. ICICI Bank [(2018) 1 SCC
407] that there should be debt, there should be default and threshold
should be more than Rs. 1 Crore for allowing application filed under
Section 7 of the Code by the Adjudicating Authority. We find that all
ingredients have been met and as such the Adjudicating Authority has
correctly allowed the application under Section 7 of the Code filed by
the Respondent.
Page 25 of 26
Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 1140 & 1141 of 2024
31. We do not find any error in the Impugned Order. The Appeal devoid of
any merit stand rejected. No cost. I.A., if any, are closed.
[Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain] Member (Judicial)
[Mr. Naresh Salecha] Member (Technical)
[Mr. Indevar Pandey] Member (Technical) Sim
Page 26 of 26
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