The Appellate Tribunal affirmed the rejection of the Section 9...

The Appellate Tribunal affirmed the rejection of the Section 9 application, holding that the termination of the contract constituted a pre-existing dispute under Section 8(2) of the IBC. The Corporate Debtor had communicated the existence of a dispute within 10 days of the Demand Notice, specifically citing illegal and unilateral termination. Evidence including communications showed the contracted goods had been produced and that the dispute was bona fide. The Adjudicating Authority correctly applied the test for pre-existing dispute, requiring only the raising of a plausible dispute, not final adjudication. The Tribunal reiterated that IBC proceedings are not for recovery but for insolvency resolution and found no error in the Adjudicating Authority's reliance on established principles to dismiss the application. The appeal was dismissed as lacking merit.

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