Section 32A protects liquidated corporate debtor property from post-liquidation attachment for prior offences, leading to setting aside of the order.

After a corporate debtor entered liquidation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, provisional attachment of its property for a prior offence could not be sustained because Section 32A bars action against such property, including attachment, seizure, retention and confiscation. The Tribunal held that the post-liquidation attachment order, and its confirmation, fell within that statutory prohibition and were therefore set aside in favour of the appellant.

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Issues: Whether provisional attachment of the corporate debtor's property after commencement of liquidation was barred by Section 32A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Analysis: The corporate debtor had been admitted into corporate insolvency resolution process on an application under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and thereafter ordered to be liquidated under Section 33 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The provisional attachment order was passed after the liquidation order. Section 32A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 bars action against the property of the corporate debtor in relation to prior offences where the property is covered under liquidation and, by explanation, expressly includes attachment, seizure, retention and confiscation. On that basis, the post-liquidation provisional attachment and its confirmation could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The provisional attachment and its confirmation were hit by Section 32A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and were set aside in favour of the appellant.

Ratio Decidendi: After liquidation of a corporate debtor, action against its property for a prior offence, including attachment, is barred by Section 32A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

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