TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (1) TMI 708
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....that the petitioner / company has contravened the provisions of Section 33(2)(b) of the Act and having committed an offence, be punished with imprisonment for six months along with penalty or compensation of Rs.10,00,000/- and also for quashing and setting aside dismissal order dated 15.04.2019 with direction to the petitioner / company to reinstate the respondent / employee with continuity of service and full back wages. 4. The facts are primarily taken up from Writ Petition No.12730/2025, as under: According to the complainant, the petitioner / company is a company registered under the Indian Companies Act. It is a Scheduled Engineering Industry engaged in the business of manufacturing of forged Industrial Automobile Components and the Manager appointed and authorized by the respondent has supervision and control over the activities of the complainant. The complainant is a permanent workman since 02.11.2018 and his last drawn wages are Rs.22,500/- per month. The complainant is a active member of the Ahmednagar Forging Kamgar Sanghtana (for brevity "the Trade Union"). There was wage settlement between the Trade Union and the Management of the respondent in the year 201....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....oyee and pay any wages to them. As there is no specific provision made for the same in the approved resolution plan. 6. The contention of the petitioner primarily is that they have received the company on a clean slate and that there can be no claim made by the complainant against the SRA (Successful Resolution Applicant). 7. Considering the above submissions, the arguments of the petitioner is restricted to the points raised by the petitioner and the facts necessary to decide the issue are noted below. 8. On 16.02.2017, the petition under Section 7 of the IBC being C.P (IB)/1555/MB/2017 titled "State Bank of India vs. Metalyst Forgings Ltd." came to be filed against Metalyst Forgings Ltd. Before the Ld. NCLT, Mumbai Bench. On 15.12.2017, the above petitioner under Section 7 of the IBC came to be admitted by the learned NCLT and consequentially the CIRP of Metalyst Forgings Ltd. commenced. Vide the Admission Order, the learned NCLT was pleased to appoint one Mr. Dinkar T. Venkatasubramnian as the Resolution Professional whereafter the entire management of Metalyst Forgings Ltd. stood vested in him. The learned NCLT also declared a moratorium in terms of Section 14 of the C....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ked as Exhibit C-101. (II) application marked as exhibit C-102 seeking to produce the documents necessary for the disposal of Exhibit C-101 Application. On 23.04.2025, the respondent filed his say to the Exhibit C-101 application which came to be marked as Exhibit U-14. On 02.07.2025, impugned order passed by the learned Labour Court whereby the application Exhibit C-101 was erroneously dismissed, and it was observed that the claim of the respondent herein for reinstatement is tenable. Vide the impugned order, the learned Labour Court has erroneously proceeded to adjudicate the Reference Proceedings on merits, the same being bad in law. 9. In the above factual circumstances, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that, upon the approval of the Resolution Plan by the learned NCLT; all claims, proceedings and liablities of the Corporate Debtor (the Petitioner herein) beyond the ambit of the Resolution Plan stood extinguished and the new management / S.R.A. has taken over the Corporate Debtor on a clean slate; free from any prior claims. That once the Resolution plan of the S.R.A. was approved by the learned NCLT under Section 31 of the Code, all claim....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....become binding on all 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. Further, upon the approval of the resolution plan, all such claims, which were not a part of the approved resolution plan stand extinguished, and no person is entitled to initiate or continue any proceedings in respect of a claim, which was not part of the said resolution plan. Allowing the continuation of the Reference Proceedings and subjecting the petitioner company under its new management to the reference proceedings is against the objects of the IBC. Submissions in respect of the other three petitions filed on behalf of the Petitioner:- 10. That in addition to the present matter, the Petitioner Company has also filed the following matters against the separate Impugned Orders dated 21.01.2025: {i} Metalyst Forgings Ltd. vs. Sanjay Mahadeo Khune [WP/12729/2025(Civil)], {ii} Metalyst Forgings Ltd. vs. Sanjay Am....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... and no such dues are expected to be outstanding. Further, based on our assessment, the Liquidation Value of the Corporate Debtor will be insufficient to satisfy the claims of even the Secured Financial Creditors in full and therefore will likely be insufficient for payment of the Employee and Workmen Dues in accordance with the provisions of the Code. Accordingly, the employees and Workmen shall be paid the Liquidation Value accruing to them, i.e. NIL amounts, except in case of payment of the Workmen Liquidation Dues as set out in sub-section 3.4.1 above. As a consequence, in the present case, except for the mandatory payments of Workmen Liquidation Duex (if any) as set out in sub-section 3.4.1 above, all dues payable to employees and workmen shall be written off in full and shall be, and be deemed to be, permanently extinguished as on the NCLT Approval Date. 3.4.3 Accordingly, and in accordance with the above, any and all claims or demands made by, or liabilities or obligations owed or payable to, (including any demand for any losses or damages, or interest, back wages, voluntary retirement compensation, compensation, penal interest, liquidated damages already accrued / ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....he affairs of the Corporate Debtor, pending or threatened, present or future, (including without limitation, any investigation by any Governmental Authority) that have been initiated or are threatened ("Dispute") to be initiated against or by the Corporate Debtor (including those proceedings that relate to the Corporate Debtor); and (b) any Encumbrance or collateral (whether enforced, crystallised or proceeded with or not) over the Assets (created and/or perfected for debt availed by the Corporate Debtor or a third party) (collectively "Security") that exists by operation of Applicable Law, or in connection with any debt owed to Financial Creditors, Operational Creditors, Other Creditors or any other debt or obligation of the Corporate Debtor, or in relation to a third party (including Related Parties) whose obligations were secured by the Corporate Debtor by creation any Security in favour of another person, at any time prior to the NCLT Approval Date, shall stand automatically revoked, released, cancelled, withdrawn, dismissed and deemed null and void (as the case may be) and all Claims arising from any Dispute or Security, whether set out herein or not, whether admitted....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....hall at no point of time be, directly or indirectly, held responsible or liable in relation thereto for any reason whatsoever." 13. The petitioner was declared as a successful resolution applicant and the resolution plan was approved by the NCLT vide it's order dated 14.05.2024. In the resolution plan, provision is not made qua the claim of the respondents / employees. 14. Clause 3.7 of the resolution plan is set out above, wherein it is observed that the existing manpower of the corporate debtor, the corporate debtor shall without any obligation and subject to acceptable performance norms endeavour to retain existing manpower, which was engaged by the corporate debtor in relation to its business. It is observed that presently the corporate debtor employs 699 employees and workmen as of 15.12.2017 as per disclosure made available in the Information Memorandum spreadsheet in the virtual data room to the resolution applicants. It is stated that the respondents names are not in the list of 699 employees and they have also not filed any claims before the resolution professional. LAW ON THE SUBJECT:- 15. In the instant case, the application moved under section 33A of the Ind....