Former management must cooperate with the resolution professional, and information collection under the Insolvency Code is not limited to two years.

Former management of a corporate debtor must extend full cooperation and furnish records to the resolution professional under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; Section 19 is mandatory and the Adjudicating Authority may direct compliance where assistance is withheld. The resolution professional's power to collect information under Section 18(1)(a) is enabling and illustrative, not restricted to transactions or records from only the preceding two years. Relevant earlier records may therefore be sought, and directions for cooperation and production of documents were granted with costs against the ex-directors.

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Issues: (i) Whether the ex-directors and former management of the corporate debtor were bound to extend full assistance and furnish records and information to the resolution professional under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. (ii) Whether the resolution professional's power to collect information under the Code was confined only to transactions or records of the preceding two years.

Issue (i): Whether the ex-directors and former management of the corporate debtor were bound to extend full assistance and furnish records and information to the resolution professional under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Analysis: The obligation cast by Section 19 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 requires personnel of the corporate debtor, its promoters, and persons associated with management to extend all assistance and cooperation to the resolution professional. Where such cooperation is not forthcoming, the Adjudicating Authority is empowered to issue directions to secure compliance. The provision is mandatory in character and is intended to enable completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process and management of the corporate debtor as a going concern. The ex-management was therefore under a legal obligation to furnish the information and records sought.

Conclusion: The ex-directors and former management were bound to cooperate and furnish the information sought by the resolution professional.

Issue (ii): Whether the resolution professional's power to collect information under the Code was confined only to transactions or records of the preceding two years.

Analysis: Section 18(1)(a) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 obliges the interim resolution professional to collect information relating to assets, finances, and operations of the corporate debtor for determining its financial position. The use of the word "includes" makes the scope illustrative, not restrictive. The provision does not create any right in the ex-management to withhold information relating to earlier periods, nor does it limit the resolution professional to a two-year window. The plea that information beyond two years need not be supplied was therefore rejected.

Conclusion: The resolution professional was not confined to two years of information and could seek relevant records beyond that period.

Final Conclusion: The application for directions to the ex-management was allowed, cooperation and production of records were ordered, and costs were awarded against the ex-directors.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 19 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 imposes a mandatory duty on the corporate debtor's former management to cooperate with the resolution professional, and Section 18(1)(a) is an enabling provision that does not restrict the collection of relevant information to a two-year period.

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