Liquidator recovery of pre-CIRP dues fails before NCLT absent pleading of preferential, undervalued, or fraudulent transactions.

A liquidator's attempt to recover pre-CIRP dues from third parties was held not maintainable before the NCLT under the invoked insolvency provision because the claims were not pleaded as preferential, undervalued, or fraudulent transactions. The Tribunal treated such recovery jurisdiction as confined to those specified categories and found no basis to attract it on the pleadings. It also noted that the insolvency law bars civil court jurisdiction only for matters within the Tribunal's domain, while the liquidator may pursue proceedings on behalf of the corporate debtor before the competent forum where permitted by law. The application was dismissed, with liberty to take appropriate remedy elsewhere.

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Issues: Whether an application by the liquidator seeking recovery of pre-CIRP dues from third parties was maintainable before the Tribunal under the insolvency framework, and whether the liquidator should be permitted to pursue appropriate proceedings elsewhere.

Analysis: The application sought recovery of amounts allegedly due to the corporate debtor, but the claims related to a period prior to commencement of CIRP. The Tribunal held that such recovery claims could be pursued within the insolvency framework only where they are founded on grounds of preferential, undervalued, or fraudulent transactions. In the absence of any pleading that the impugned transactions fell within those categories, jurisdiction under the provision invoked was not attracted. The Tribunal also noted that the insolvency law bars civil court jurisdiction only in respect of matters within the Tribunal's jurisdiction, while the liquidator may institute proceedings on behalf of the corporate debtor with prior approval where permitted by law.

Conclusion: The application was not maintainable before the Tribunal and was dismissed. The liquidator was left at liberty to pursue the appropriate remedy before the competent forum in accordance with law.

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