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2018 (2) TMI 196

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....ogen, Argon, Hydrogen, Acetylene and such other gases. It has his factory and supply arrangements made at Patalganga, Dolvi, Jejuri in Maharashtra, Hazira in Gujarat, Bellary in Karnataka and other locations. 3. Mr. Unmesh Potphode, Senior Manager, Business Development has been authorized by the Board Resolution dated 17.03.2016 to sign and submit the petition. 4. The Corporate Debtor 'Twenty First Century Wire Rods Limited' has been incorporated on 08.10.1996. Its CIN number is U27100DL1996PLC082467. Its authorized share capital is 15,00,00,000/- and paid up share capital is Rs. 14,50,00,000/-. It has its registered office at E-220, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi-110048 and Corporate office at 506, 5th Floor, Meadows, Sahar Plaza Complex, JB Nagar, Andheri-Kurla Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai-400059. 5. The case of the 'Operational Creditor' is that it has entered into a Liquid Supply Agreement (for brevity 'LSA') and Equipment License Agreement (for brevity 'ELA') with 'Corporate Debtor' on 29.03.2012 for supply of products such as liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon and license for storage equipment for storing of the products. The said products were to be delivered a....

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....by the Corporate Debtor. Thereafter Operational Creditor had sent a notice dated 15.04.2016 to the Corporate Debtor under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Response to the said notice was sent on 12.05.2016 by the Corporate Debtor wherein apart from raising a number of baseless and unwarranted allegations, nothing substantial had been brought on record. Proceeding under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act with respect to aforesaid cheque is pending before the Competent Court. 11. The Operational Creditor has issued a notice dated 01.08.2016 under Sections 433(e) and 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 for winding up of the affairs of the Corporate Debtor. Response to the said notice was purportedly sent on 07.08.2016, however, the same was only received on 08.09.2016, whereby the Corporate Debtor had raised the illusory defence that there was no outstanding debts payable to the Operational Creditor. 12. Thereafter in compliance of Section 8(1) of the Code the Operational Creditor issued a demand notice on the Corporate Debtor which was served on the Corporate Debtor on 22.03.2017. The Corporate Debtor responded to the said notice vide its response dated 31.03.2....

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....1.2015 along with account summary is annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/J. (11) A copy of the emails dated 09.06.2016, along with account summary is annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/K. (12) A copy of the cheque return memo dated 05.04.2016 issued by Axis Bank indicating the stop payment instruction issued by TFC along with a copy of the cheque annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/L. (13) A copy of notice dated 15.04.2016 issued by the counsel for Inox to TFC under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/M. (14) A copy of TFC's reply dated 12.05.2016 to the section 138 notice issued by the Counsel for TFC annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/N. (15) A copy of letter dated 01.08.2016 issued by the counsel for Inox to TFC under Section 433(e) r/w Section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 ('Winding up notice') annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/O. (16) A copy of TFC's reply dated 07.08.2016 to winding up notice dated 01.08.2016 annexed herewith and marked as Annexure-II/P. (17) A copy of the charts showing amounts due under the LSA and the Revised Agreement as on 15.02.2017 annexed h....

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....ed with even an iota of proof, inasmuch as no document/record or other financial statement had been provided which would fortify submission of the Corporate Debtor. He then also has drawn our attention to response to the notice under Section 8 of the Code received by him on 31.03.2017 and submitted that the Corporate Debtor had sought for an extension for filing the response without any justifications whatsoever, therefore, Corporate Debtor failed to respond the notice within the statutory period of ten days as prescribed under the Code and the response dated 04.04.2017 which was received from the Corporate Debtor after the prescribed period of ten days, cannot be considered as a response to the notice. 16. The averment further is that on the one hand in response to the notice issued under Sections 433 and 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 the Corporate Debtor had indicated that it had made all payments to the Operational Creditor and on the other hand in response to the notice under Section 8 of the Code the Corporate Debtor has adopted a wholly new defence and put focus on two folds i.e. the unpaid amounts pertains to escalation charges on account of escalation in price of products....

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....e Debtor it is proved beyond doubt that 'goods' in terms of Section 5(21) of the Code were procured by the Corporate Debtor from the Operational Creditor. For determination of the issue it would be necessary to examine the definition of the expression 'Operational Debt' given in Section 5(21) of the Code and the same is set out below:- Section 5(21) (21) "operational debt" means a claim in respect of the provision of goods or services including employment or a debt in respect of the repayment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force and payable to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority. The definition of operational debt postulates that it is a claim in respect of the provision of 'goods' or 'services' including employment etc. A perusal of the invoices issued by the Operational Creditor in the name of Corporate Debtor unfolds that Operational Creditor has supplied different types of gases to the Corporate Debtor. Therefore, the debt which is due and payable by the Corporate Debtor to the Operational Creditor is prima facie covered by Section 5(21). 20. It is also evident that Corporate Debtor has committed default and the amount ....

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....irusa Software Private Limited in Civil Appeal No. 9405 of 2017 decided on 21.09.2017 and in para 40 of the judgment Hon'ble the Supreme Court has laid down the following principles of law which reads thus:- "40. It is clear, therefore, that once the operational creditor has filed an application, which is otherwise complete, the adjudicating authority must reject the application under Section 9(5)(2)(d) if notice of dispute has been received by the operational creditor or there is a record of dispute in the information utility. It is clear that such notice must bring to the notice of the operational creditor the "existence" of a dispute or the fact that a suit or arbitration proceeding relating to a dispute is pending between the parties. Therefore, all that the adjudicating authority is to see at this stage is whether there is a plausible contention which requires further investigation and that the "dispute" is not a patently feeble legal argument or an assertion of fact unsupported by evidence. It is important to separate the grain from the chaff and to reject a spurious defence which is mere bluster. However, in doing so, the Court does not need to be satisfied that the defenc....

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....pointment as Insolvency Resolution Professional in compliance with Section 16(3)(a) of the Code in order to cut delay. The list of recommended Insolvency Professionals provides instant solution to the Adjudicating Authority to pick up the name and make appointment. It helps in meeting the time line given in the Code and the unnecessary time wasted firstly in asking the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to recommend the name and then to appoint such Interim Resolution Professional by Adjudicating Authority. Accordingly, we appoint Mr. Sachin Sapra, email id [email protected] (Mobile No. 9910219977) as an Interim Resolution Professional. His registration number is IBBI/IPA-002/IP-N00005/2016-17/10005. The aforesaid Interim Resolution Professional has no disciplinary proceeding pending against him nor anything else has been pointed out with regard to his antecedents. The Interim Resolution Professional has filed necessary declaration in accordance with the IBBI Regulations and the provisions of the Code. 28. In pursuance of Section 13(2) of Code, we direct that Interim Insolvency Resolution Professional shall immediately on his appointment make public announcement with reg....