A Section 9 insolvency application was rejected because the wage...

A Section 9 insolvency application was rejected because the wage claim was subject to a bona fide pre-existing dispute over entitlement and quantification. The Appellate Tribunal held that non-response to the Section 8 demand notice did not stop the corporate debtor from showing, before the Adjudicating Authority, that disputes had already arisen. Pending labour proceedings and earlier High Court litigation showed that the basis and extent of the dues had not been finally settled. Applying Mobilox, the Tribunal found a plausible dispute, not a spurious one, so the operational debt was not undisputed and insolvency could not be used as a recovery mechanism.