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of <h1>Alleged falsification of corporate books u/s 71 - non-impleadment bar removed; IA to be decided on merits</h1> Dominant issue: Whether an IA seeking punishment under Section 71 (alleged falsification of corporate books) was procedurally barred by non-impleadment ... Seeking punishment for alleged falsification of the books of accounts of the Corporate Debtor, which upon establishment calls for imprisonment for a term not less than three years - misconduct allegedly falling within the ambit of Section 71 - Whether the platform provided under the I&B Code can be utilized for the purpose of taking vengeance for personal grievances. - HELD THAT:- The grievance of the Appellant is that no effective order has been passed on IA, where he prayed for punishing the Respondents under Section 71 of the I&B Code for having knowledge of the books yet failing to proceed in accordance with law. The effect of the order is that those against whom allegations were made in IA, now stand impleaded, and thus, in light of the order dated 29.07.2025, the reasoning adopted in disposing of IA by the impugned order dated 04.07.2024 loses its significance. Since the impediment regarding non-impleadment has been removed, IA No. is now free from any procedural hindrance and must be considered independently on its own merits. Hence, limited to the extent of IA, wherein the Appellant has prayed for punishing the Respondents under Section 71 of the I&B Code and the matter still remains to be adjudicated on merits, this Company Appeal is accordingly disposed of, with a request to the NCLT, Chennai, that in view of the order rendered in IA, whereby the RP and the Liquidator have already been impleaded in IA, the said application must now be decided independently on its merits, as the impediment of non-impleadment no longer survives. The Company Appeal is disposed of, with the direction to the NCLT, Chennai, to decide IA, exclusively on its own merits without being influenced by any observation made by us in today's order. Issues: Whether IA No. 1010/CHE/2022, filed under Section 71 of the IBC seeking initiation of prosecution and punishment, is free from procedural impediment of non-impleadment and must be decided independently on merits by the NCLT in view of the subsequent impleadment order dated 29.07.2025.Analysis: The Appellate Tribunal examined the three interlocutory applications (IA No. 1010/2022, IA No. 1234/2022 and IA No. 1242/2024) together and identified that IA No. 1010/2022 sought punishment under Section 71 of the IBC for alleged falsification of corporate debtor records. IA No. 1234/2022 sought impleadment of the erstwhile Resolution Professional and the new Liquidator into IA No. 1010/2022. The NCLT's subsequent order dated 29.07.2025 impleaded those persons into IA No. 1010/2022, thereby removing the procedural obstacle that earlier affected consideration of IA No. 1010/2022. Given the removal of the impediment, the Tribunal concluded that IA No. 1010/2022 must now be considered on its own merits by the NCLT without being influenced by the Appellate Tribunal's observations in the present order.Conclusion: In favour of Appellant. The appeal is disposed of to the limited extent that IA No. 1010/CHE/2022 is to be decided by the NCLT, Chennai, independently on merits now that impleadment has been effected and the procedural impediment no longer survives.
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