TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (6) TMI 1825
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....rath Energy (Utkal) Limited and now JSW Energy (Utkal) Limited, is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, with its registered office at Sahajbahal, Jharsuguda, Odisha. (ii) In 2018, Bank of Baroda, as a financial creditor, filed an application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, against the Petitioner, which was registered as CP(IB) No. 276/7/HDB/2018 before the National Company Law Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench. Thereafter, on 29.08.2018, the NCLT admitted CP(IB) No. 276/7/HDB/2018 and initiated the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process against the Petitioner. (iii) A moratorium was imposed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and an Interim Resolution Professional was appointed to take over the management and affairs of the Petitioner. The NCLT also directed that a public announcement be made under Section 13(1)(b) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. (iv) Pursuant to the said order, on 30.08.2018, the Interim Resolution Professional issued a public announcement in Form A under Rule 6 of the IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016, inviting all creditors of the....
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.... 2019-20 to 2021-22, and current rent and cess for FY 2022-23, in respect of land acquired in the villages of Sahajbahal, Kumbharbandh, and Barpali. (xiv) Subsequently, vide Letter No. 734 dated 17.02.2023, the Tahasildar, Lakhanpur informed the Petitioner that, upon verification, the impugned demand had been revised to: (a) Rs. 12,14,986/- towards arrear and current rent and cess for FY 2019-20 to 2022-23, and (b) Rs. 9,81,682/- towards the demand raised in OPDR Case No. 30/2020. (xv) On 13.03.2023, the Petitioner, vide Letter No. IBEUL/2022-23/004, informed the Tahasildar, Lakhanpur that it had undergone CIRP under the IBC, 2016, and had been acquired by the Resolution Applicant on 28.12.2022 pursuant to the Resolution Plan approved by the NCLT. The Petitioner further clarified that all claims of stakeholders and creditors, including those of the Opposite Parties, for the period prior to the Implementation Date stood extinguished, as they were not included in the approved Resolution Plan. In light of this, the Petitioner requested Opposite Parties to withdraw the demand notice dated 17.02.2023 and issue a revised demand, if any, restricted to d....
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....eged short realisation of conversion fees. II. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER: 4. Learned counsel for the Petitioners earnestly made the following submissions in support of his contentions: (i) The Petitioner contended that all liabilities arising prior to the Implementation Date under the approved Resolution Plan dated 28.12.2022 stood extinguished by operation of law. The Plan, being binding on all stakeholders including the Opposite Parties under Section 31(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, renders the impugned demands unsustainable. (ii) The petitioner submitted that a conjoint reading of Clauses 1.6, 1.14 and 14.5 of Part B, Financial Proposal of the Resolution Plan, along with Section 238 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, makes it clear that all claims, dues or taxes, whether claimed or unclaimed, for any period prior to the Insolvency Commencement Date of 29 August 2018 and up to the Implementation Date of 28 December 2022, stood permanently extinguished upon approval of the Resolution Plan by the NCLT on 25 July 2022. (iii) The petitioner submitted that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, provides a co....
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....cy and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 from 29.08.2018, which expressly prohibits institution or continuation of recovery proceedings. (xi) Lastly, the demand dated 11.09.2024 is founded solely on an audit objection of the Accountant General without any independent assessment or application of mind, amounting to abdication of statutory responsibility. III. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE OPPOSITE PARTIES: 5. The Learned Counsel for the Opposite Parties earnestly made the following submissions in support of his contentions: (i) The demand notices were issued lawfully under the Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960 and the Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962. The Officer, being the Certificate Officer and Revenue Authority, is legally empowered to recover statutory government dues through certificate proceedings. (ii) The recovery of these dues is in accordance with statutory obligations imposed on all tenants, including the Petitioner, who is required to remit annual rent and cess. Failure to do so warrants action under the Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962. (iii) A certificate case under the Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962was initiated agai....
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....y, it is necessary to examine the statutory framework under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, as interpreted and clarified by authoritative judicial pronouncements. 9. Section 31(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 reads as follows: "31. (1) If the Adjudicating Authority is satisfied that the resolution plan as approved by the committee of creditors under sub-section (4) of section 30 meets the requirements as referred to in sub-section (2) of section 30, it shall by order approve3 the resolution plan which shall be binding on the corporate debtor and its employees, members, creditors, including the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority to whom a debt in respect of the payment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force, such as authorities to whom statutory dues are owed, guarantors and other stakeholders involved in the resolution plan. Provided that the Adjudicating Authority shall, before passing an order for approval of resolution plan under this sub-section, satisfy that the resolution plan has provisions for its effective implementation." 10. The object and intent behind Section 31(1) is to se....
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....ld that: "66. Section 31(1) of the Code makes it clear that once a resolution plan is approved by the Committee of Creditors it shall be binding on all stakeholders, including guarantors. This is for the reason that this provision ensures that the successful resolution applicant starts running the business of the corporate debtor on a fresh slate as it were..." 14. Applying the above principles to the facts of the present case, it is evident that the Petitioner, originally Ind-Bharath Energy (Utkal) Limited and now JSW Energy (Utkal) Limited, underwent CIRP commencing from 29.08.2018. The Resolution Plan submitted by M/s JSW Energy Limited was approved by the NCLT on 25.07.2022 and implemented with effect from 28.12.2022. 15. The Resolution Professional issued a public notice on 30.08.2018 inviting claims. The final list of creditors, as submitted before the NCLT, did not include any claim from the Opposite Parties. Thus, all claims pertaining to the period prior to the Implementation Date i.e., 28.12.2022, which were not part of the approved Resolution Plan, stood extinguished in law. 16. Despite this, the Tahasildar, Lakhanpur, District-Jharsuguda, issued severa....