The Appellate Tribunal upheld rejection of the operational...

The Appellate Tribunal upheld rejection of the operational creditor's IBC s.9 application and dismissed the appeal, holding that a "pre-existing dispute" barred initiation of CIRP. It found that the information utility record (NeSL) reflected the corporate debtor's authenticated dispute denying the debt, satisfying s.9(5)(ii)(d). Relying on SC precedent in Mobilox, it held that where notice of dispute is received or there is a record of dispute in an information utility, the Adjudicating Authority must reject the s.9 application. The pendency of proceedings under NI Act s.138 did not negate the existence of the recorded dispute.