Occupancy verification: RP may seek administrative assistance to ascertain occupation while protecting bona fide allottees and leaving title disputes to civil courts.

Resolution Professional is authorised to verify occupancy and ownership status of units through factual inquiries and by seeking administrative assistance, including the Deputy Commissioner and police if necessary; such verification must be confined to determining occupational capacity and state of title facts and conducted civilly so as not to disturb bona fide allottees. Disputes of title arising from alleged multiple sales are not resolved by this process and remain for adjudication in the civil courts. The direction rejects appointment of a legal commissioner and requires the RP to perform limited factual verification without exclusion of the project from CIRP.

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Issues: Whether the order dated 09.02.2023 of the National Company Law Tribunal directing the Resolution Professional to verify the occupancy/ownership status of units in Universal Trade Tower by seeking assistance of the Deputy Commissioner (and to act civilly without disturbing bona fide allottees) is lawful and whether the appeal against that order should be allowed.

Analysis: The impugned directions in CA-500/2019 require the Resolution Professional to ascertain factual position regarding who occupies the units (owner/allottee or tenant/occupant) and to seek administrative assistance from the Deputy Commissioner, including police support if necessary; the Tribunal declined appointment of a legal commissioner and directed the RP to perform the verification. The related IA-3209/2021 was not granted exclusion of the project from CIRP and the Tribunal emphasised that UTT was not part of the Resolution Plan and that RP must carry out verification without causing inconvenience to bona fide allottees. The factual allegations of multiple sales and overselling justify factual verification to determine the state of title and occupancy; disputes as to title arising from multiple sales are matters for civil courts. The directions constrain the RP to limit inquiries to factual verification of occupational capacity and to conduct such verification in a civilized manner without creating disturbance to bona fide occupants.

Conclusion: The appeal is dismissed; the Tribunal's orders in CA-500/2019 and IA-3209/2021 directing the RP to verify occupancy/ownership with assistance of the Deputy Commissioner and to act without disturbing bona fide allottees are upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Where factual uncertainty exists as to occupancy and alleged multiple sales, the Resolution Professional may verify occupational status through administrative assistance (Deputy Commissioner and, if necessary, police) and must confine inquiries to factual verification while protecting bona fide occupants; title disputes arising from multiple sales remain for the civil forum.

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