Belated CIRP claims and alleged unit allotment for legal fees do not create financial debt without disbursement or time value of money.

A belated claim in CIRP was not reopened after approval of the resolution plan, as the time-bound insolvency framework did not justify condonation on the facts. The claimant was a commercial entity, and no exceptional basis was shown to place it on the same footing as cases where claims were otherwise reflected in the debtor's records. The asserted entitlement from allotment of units in lieu of legal fees also failed, because there was no disbursement to the corporate debtor and the arrangement did not satisfy the requirement of consideration for time value of money. The claim was therefore not a financial debt and was not admissible against the corporate debtor.

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Issues: (i) Whether the delay in filing the appellant's claim should be condoned after approval of the resolution plan. (ii) Whether the appellant's claim arising from allotment of units in lieu of legal fee could be admitted as a claim against the corporate debtor in the CIRP.

Issue (i): Whether the delay in filing the appellant's claim should be condoned after approval of the resolution plan.

Analysis: The delay was examined in the context of the time-bound framework of insolvency resolution. The appellant was a commercial entity and the claim was filed after the resolution plan had already been approved by the Committee of Creditors and was pending before the adjudicating authority. The record did not show any basis to treat the appellant on par with homebuyers or to apply the exceptional approach adopted in cases where claims were otherwise reflected in the corporate debtor's records.

Conclusion: The delay was not liable to be condoned and the refusal to admit the belated claim was upheld.

Issue (ii): Whether the appellant's claim arising from allotment of units in lieu of legal fee could be admitted as a claim against the corporate debtor in the CIRP.

Analysis: The sale certificate and the annexed list of allottees showed that the encumbrances recognised for the purchased property were confined to the identified allottees, and the appellant's name did not appear in that list. The appellant had not made any disbursement to the corporate debtor, and the alleged allotment in lieu of legal fee did not satisfy the essential requirement of disbursement against consideration for time value of money. The claim therefore did not constitute a financial debt, nor did it create an enforceable liability on the corporate debtor within the CIRP.

Conclusion: The appellant's claim was not admissible against the corporate debtor and was rightly rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed on both delay and merits, and the rejection of the claim was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A belated claim cannot be reopened in a CIRP after approval of the resolution plan, and a claim lacking disbursement against consideration for time value of money does not amount to financial debt.

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