TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (4) TMI 712
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....decision of the Supreme Court in Ghanashyam Mishra and Sons Pvt. Ltd vs. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. (2021) 9 SCC 657, the respondents would stand deprived of the jurisdiction or authority to reopen or assess income for any period prior to the approval of the Resolution Plan. 3. For the purposes of disposal of the instant writ petition, we propose to notice the following salient facts. The proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT] commenced upon the filing of a petition under Section 7 of the IBC by one Mr. Debashish Majumdar. The petition came to be admitted on 12 November 2020 and an order of moratorium came into effect from that date. In terms of the statutory scheme of the IBC, the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process [CIRP] would also be deemed to have commenced from the aforesaid date. 4. According to the writ petitioner, the Resolution Professional [RP] appointed pursuant to the commencement of CIRP, on 23 November 2020, informed the Income Tax authorities of the pendency of proceedings before the NCLT. This was followed by a communication dated 28 January 2021 in terms of which the RP is stated to have conveyed a request to the Income ....
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....as are provided in sub-section (2) of Section 30 of the I&B Code. Only thereafter, the adjudicating authority can grant its approval to the plan. It is at this stage that the plan becomes binding on the corporate debtor, its employees, members, creditors, guarantors and other stakeholders involved in the resolution plan. The legislative intent behind this is to freeze all the claims so that the resolution applicant starts on a clean slate and is not flung with any surprise claims. If that is permitted, the very calculations on the basis of which the resolution applicant submits its plans would go haywire and the plan would be unworkable. 94. We have no hesitation to say that the words "other stakeholders" would squarely cover the Central Government, any State Government or any local authorities. The legislature noticing that on account of obvious omission certain tax authorities were not abiding by the mandate of the I&B Code and continuing with the proceedings, has brought out the 2019 Amendment so as to cure the said mischief. We therefore hold that the 2019 Amendment is declaratory and clarificatory in nature and therefore retrospective in operation." 4. We also take note of....
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....1) of the Code and this Court's judgment in SBI v. V. Ramakrishnan, (2018) 17 SCC 394, is set aside. 107. For the same reason, the impugned NCLAT judgment [Standard Chartered Bank v. Satish Kumar Gupta, 2019 SCC OnLine NCLAT 388] in holding that claims that may exist apart from those decided on merits by the resolution professional and by the Adjudicating Authority/Appellate Tribunal can now be decided by an appropriate forum in terms of Section 60(6) of the Code, also militates against the rationale of Section 31 of the Code. A successful resolution applicant cannot suddenly be faced with "undecided" claims after the resolution plan submitted by him has been accepted as this would amount to a hydra head popping up which would throw into uncertainty amounts payable by a prospective resolution applicant who would successfully take over the business of the corporate debtor. All claims must be submitted to and decided by the resolution professional so that a prospective resolution applicant knows exactly what has to be paid in order that it may then take over and run the business of the corporate debtor. This the successful resolution applicant does on a fresh slate, as has been....
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....erty to the petitioner therein to obtain a clarification from the National Company Law Tribunal as to whether the plan included customs duty paid by the petitioner therein on the import under the subject bill of entry therein, whereas, in the present case, the documents reveal that the Income-tax was not under the contemplation of National Company Law Tribunal. xxxx xxxx xxxx 28. Only thereafter, the adjudicating authority can grant its approval to the plan. It is at this stage that the plan becomes binding on the corporate debtor, its employees, members, creditors, guarantors and other stakeholders involved in the resolution plan. The legislative intent behind this is to freeze all the claims so that the resolution applicant starts on a clean slate and is not flung with any surprise claims. 29. The resolution plan submitted on behalf of the petitioners by the Insolvency Resolution Professional under Section 30(6) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 on May 21, 2019 has not contemplated any concession from the Income-tax Department though notices under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 had already been issued during March, 2018. 30. Corporate Insolvency resolut....