TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (4) TMI 1443
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.... wherein the Hon'ble Tribunal directed the Successful Resolution Applicant not to create third-party rights over the flat in question and to first conduct verification of documents in accordance with the terms of the approved Resolution Plan. IA No. 5591 of 2024 and IA No. 5592 of 2024 were disposed of with common impugned order dated 27.11.2024, which is extracted from the impugned order as below: *** IA-817/2024, IA-818/2024, IA-822/2024, IA-823/2024, IA-826/2024, IA- 1929/2024, IA-2344/2024, IA-2703/2024, IA-3880/2024, New IA-5591/2024, New IA-5592/2024: The Ld. Counsel for the SRA produced before us a copy of order dated 25.11.2021, to espouse that in IA- 4033/2021 which raised the identical issue this Tribunal remitted the matter to SRA for his consideration. The order passed in IA-4033/2021 reads thus: "ΙΑ-4033/2021: It is submitted by the Counsel for the Applicant that the Resolution Plan in the present matter has already been approved by this Adjudicating Authority on 20th February, 2020. The grievance of the Applicant is in regard to his claim vis-à-vis provision in the Resolution Plan. Let the Petitioner submit his grievance f....
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.....A No. 5591 of 2024 in CP (IB) No. 496(ND) / 2018 AND (b) That the Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal may be pleased to pass any such further or other order(s) as this Appellate Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the fact and circumstances of the case to grant justice to the Appellant and the Respondent. Reliefs Sought in CA (AT)(Ins.) No. 113/2025 3. Hon'ble Tribunal be pleased to: (a) Set aside the Impugned Order dated 27.11.2024 passed by the Hon'ble NCLT in I.A No. 5592 of 2024 in CP (IB) No. 496(ND) / 2018 AND (b) That the Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal may be pleased to pass any such further or other order(s) as this Appellate Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the fact and circumstances of the case to grant justice to the Appellant Submissions of Appellant - Jai Kishore Prasad & Mukta Prasad (CA AT(INS) 109/2025) 4. The Appellant is a flat-buyer in the Corporate Debtor's project. Initially, they had purchased a flat in Mascot Soho Homes Pvt Ltd. Thereafter, due to some disputes, they were allotted a flat in the Maple Realcon Private (hereinafter Corporate Debtor) project, which is a sister concern of M/s Mascot Soho Homes Pvt ....
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....ded over possession of the property. c. It may be noted that as per the inspection by the Appellant on 07.01.2025, the physical structure of the building has been constructed and internal works are ongoing. In fact, the SRA also offered the Appellants an opportunity purchase units in the said tower. to d. The Appellants have been duly named as financial creditors by the Resolution Professional, and have been participating in the resolution process throughout. In fact, even the payments made by the Appellants herein have been acknowledged by the Corporate Debtor, as it was transferred from an erstwhile sister concern of the CD. e. Successful Resolution Applicant cannot sit in appeal over the admission of the claim by the Resolution Professional, especially when the Appellants have approached the Ld. Adjudicating Authority for this very relief. f. Without prejudice to their rights, the Appellants have submitted a representation to the Successful Resolution Applicant as well as the Corporate Debtor seeking possession of their flat. However, the SRA and CD have not even responded to the representation. In fact, it is reliably learned by the Appellant....
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....der ought to be set aside because: a. The prayer in the application before the Ld. Adjudicating Authority was seeking handing over of physical possession of the flat. However, in the guise of allowing the application, the Ld. Adjudicating Authority has in effect directed the Successful Resolution Applicant to consider the claim, when the SRA has no authority, jurisdiction or role to 'consider' the claim. In this light, the impugned order has no legal standing and ought to be set aside by this Hon'ble Tribunal. b. The SRA ought to have completed construction of the property within 36 months of the approval of the resolution plan. As on date, i.e., 60 months thereafter, and more than 36 months after the pandemic has subsided, the SRA has not handed over possession of the property. c. It may be noted that as per the inspection by the Appellant on 07.01.2025, the physical structure of the building has been constructed and internal works are ongoing. In fact, the SRA also offered the Appellants an opportunity to purchase units in the said tower. d. The Appellants have been duly named as financial creditors by the Resolution Professional, a....
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....cess of scrutiny is ongoing, and no action contrary to the Ld. Tribunal's directives has been undertaken. By preferring the present Appeal, the Appellant is attempting to bypass the verification process prescribed in the Resolution Plan. This constitutes an impermissible attempt to carve out an exception in its favor, thereby seeking to evade the verification process by the Respondent. Such an endeavor is contrary to the terms of the Resolution Plan and cannot be permitted. 15. Consequently, no prejudice is being caused to the rights of the creditors, as the process of scrutiny is ongoing, and no action contrary to the Tribunal's directives has been undertaken. And more so, when the Appellant has himself conceded to the said Order of the Ld. NCLT. Furthermore, it is evident that the impugned order is in favour of the Appellant, as it safeguards their interests by ensuring that the flats claimed by them are not disposed of until a final determination is made by the Respondent. 16. Respondent contends that due to the admission of a huge claim amount totaling to Rs. 95,84,29,258/- by the Resolution Professional and in light of the numerous queries being received by the C....
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....receipts and agreements submitted by the claimants, in the prescribed "Form C" to the Resolution Professional in accordance with the directions of the Ld. NCLT. Such admission was further subject to re- verification by the SRA for checking the authenticity and genuineness of the claims. 18. The Appellant also submitted its claim in the prescribed "Form C" before the Resolution Professional on 07.08.2018. At the time of submission, the only documents furnished by the Appellant in support of its claim were the Payment Receipt and a copy of the Ledger, based on which the Resolution Professional provisionally admitted a certain amount of the total amount claimed by the Appellant. 19. The provisional admission of the claims of the Appellant was included along with others totaling to an amount of Rs. 95,84,29,258/-, which was based solely on the best possible estimation made by the Resolution Professional, considering the limited availability of records due to the financial distress of the Corporate Debtor. It is a well-established principle that in insolvency proceedings, the records of a financially stressed entity may suffer from inconsistencies, data asymmetry, or even inaccura....
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....tion is integral to determining the legitimacy and quantum of claims. Any provisional admission made by the Resolution Professional does not, in itself, create a vested right in favour of the such claimant, more so, when the Respondent has an exclusive clause in the Resolution Plan to verify the documents of the claimants. Accordingly, such admission remains subject to further scrutiny based on the verification process. 22 The Verification Clause is a general provision applicable to all claims raised by all the creditors against the Corporate Debtor and is not exclusive to the Appellant. The purpose of incorporating this clause is to ensure that only genuine and substantiated claims are admitted by the Respondent. The Verification Clause provides a mechanism for assessing, verifying, and validating the claims in a fair and transparent manner, thereby preventing any wrongful or inflated claims from being admitted to the detriment of other stakeholders. This clause was introduced to facilitate an equitable and just settlement process. 23 The present appeal has been preferred by the Appellant and some other limited number of individuals have also preferred similar Appeals agains....
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....id ledger is inadmissible as evidence and cannot form the basis of a legal right or enforceable obligation. It is a settled principle of law that mere entries in documents which are unilaterally maintained cannot create liabilities, especially when the same are specifically disputed and not acknowledged by the other party. 29 Upon becoming aware of the circulation of the said ledger by the Appellants, MSHPL unequivocally asserted that the Ledger produced by the Appellant is forged and fabricated, and that no such document was ever issued by MSHPL. Vide Letter 11.12.2021 issued by MSHPL to the Respondents, categorically confirms that the Ledger account of E-602 allotted to the Appellants showing balance of Rs. 22,70,000/- was not issued by MSHPL and thus is a fabricated document. 30 The Appellants' contention regarding the alleged transfer of their booking from the Project named "Manorath" developed by MSHPL to the Project named "Misty Heights" which was being developed by Maple Realcon Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "MRPL"), a different legal entity, is wholly unsubstantiated and lacks corroborative evidence, even on a plain reading of the documents relied upon by ....
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....y establishing the transfer of an amount of Rs. 22,70,000/- to MRPL from MSHPL also appear to be forged and fabricated document. It is further submitted that the MSHPL has categorically mentioned in a Letter dated 11.12.2021 that no amount has been received from the Appellants on the accounts of MRPL as a settlement from MSHPL. 35. The Allotment/Buyer Agreement dated 07.03.2017, which have been produced by the Appellants to assert the booking of the unit at Misty Heights is totally contrary and are not consistent with the Settlement Deed relied upon by the Appellants. Thus, it appears that the Appellants have forged and fabricated Allotment/Buyer Agreement with the sole intent to mislead this Hon'ble Tribunal and to lend a semblance of legitimacy to an otherwise baseless claim. The said documents are denied in toto, and the veracity and authenticity thereof are specifically disputed. 36. The Allotment/Buyer Agreement dated 07.03.2017, which has been heavily relied upon by the Appellants, bears the signature of one Mr. B.P. Singh. However, Mr. B.P. Singh had no authority whatsoever to execute any agreement pursuant to the Settlement Deed dated 01.08.2015. As per the terms ....
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....ny rights and authority, raises serious doubts about their authenticity and establishes a clear intent to misrepresent material facts. 40. Appellant has also produced a Receipt dated 09.03.2017 allegedly establishing a payment of Rs. 3,00,000/-transferred to MRPL. However, MRPL categorically denies ever having received such payment from the Appellants. Upon due verification, the transaction reference number mentioned in the alleged receipt does not correspond to any record of payment traceable to the Appellant. 41. The transaction reference number mentioned in the alleged receipt relied upon by the Appellants, it is revealed that a sum of Rs. 6,00,000/- was credited, however, the said amount was subsequently transferred to some other account on the very same day on which it was received. This clearly indicates that the transaction in question does not pertain to any booking or payment attributable to the Respondents and further undermines the veracity of the alleged receipt. This further fortifies that the said receipt dated 09.03.2017 is fabricated and forged, and has been created to falsely establish a non-existent transaction. 42. Even assuming for the sake of argument,....
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....essional as provisionally admitted based on the limited documents made available by the ex-management and the creditors themselves. The claim of the Appellant also formed part of this provisionally admitted claim. 47. Respondents had to introduce the provision for verification of the Claims in the Resolution Plan itself as a consequence of a huge claim amount of Rs. 95,84,29,258/-being provisionally admitted and an amount totalling to Rs. 32,72,36,833/- kept under verification by the Resolution Professional. 48. The claims admitted by the Resolution Professional are provisional in nature and are subject to verification as stipulated under the Resolution Plan. Mere admission of claims by the Resolution Professional, without due verification and scrutiny as mandated under the Resolution Plan, cannot be construed as a final or conclusive acknowledgment of such claims. The process of verification is integral to determining the legitimacy and quantum of claims. Any provisional admission made by the Resolution Professional does not, in itself, create a vested right in favour of the such claimant, more so, when the Respondent has an exclusive clause in the Resolution Plan to verify ....
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....ransaction to the Corporate Debtor. This transaction is admitted by the SRA in its reply. The SRA states: "36. It is submitted that upon tracing the transaction reference number mentioned in the alleged receipt relied upon by the Appellants, it is revealed that a sum of Rs. 6,00,000/- was credited, however, the said amount was subsequently transferred to some other account on the very same day on which it was received...." 55. Appellant claims that the burden of a transaction into a different account cannot be laid on the buyer who has no knowledge of the business of the Corporate Debtor. Once paid towards the BBA, the transaction is completed in so far as the buyer is concerned. 56. The Corporate Debtor was plunged into CIRP by Order dated 18.07.2018. This was at the behest of an Operational Creditor viz., M/s Bindal Merchandise. (strangely his claim doesn't appear in the approved resolution plan!). The Appellants filed their Form C on 07.08.2018. They claimed the amounts already paid plus interest thereon. The following table may be adverted to: Name Principal admitted Interest under Verification Total Amount List of Creditors at Jai Kishore & Anr....
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....hich provides for the verification. For clarity, the relevant portion of the Resolution Plan is extracted below: 6th Unsecured Financial Creditors (consenting) The unsecured financial creditors are the homebuyers of the residential real estate project of MRPL, namely Misty Heights who would be given delivery of the flats purchased by them as per the Schedule given below. Towers A and B - 21 Months Towers D and E - 30 Months Tower C - 36 months However, the delivery of the flats shall be contingent upon the homebuyers paying the dues against their flats as per the construction linked payment schedule for the residential housing project of MRPL namely Misty Heights. Further, the Resolution Applicant shall be within his rights to verify the original documents, that is, original Builder Buyer Agreement and Payment Receipts for each flat within 60 days. The same shall be done to ascertain the mode of payment being made to the corporate debtor and the actual amount being admitted by them. The RA after ascertaining the payment and mode of payment shall enter in to a new builder buyer agreement under the brand name of Apex. which shall have an overriding effect on any other arr....
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....due to any contingency or other reason, the interim resolution professional or the resolution professional, as the case may be, shall make the best estimate of the amount of the claim based on the information available with him. (2) The interim resolution professional or the resolution professional, as the case may be, shall revise the amounts of claims admitted, including the estimates of claims made under sub regulation (1), as soon as may be practicable, when he comes across additional information warranting such revision." 65. Thus, the power to admit a claim and the power to re-determine any amount of claim vests solely with the Resolution Professional. The SRA cannot claim a power that has been solely vested in the RP. To do so would pervert the purpose of the law and permit the SRA to reject all rightful claims made. In any case in the facts of the present case, we observe that the SRA's rights to further scrutiny has also lapsed as per the terms and conditions of the resolution plan and the AA erred in further allowed beyond 60 days. 66. The Appellants have also placed their reliance on the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Deccan Value Investors v. Dinkar Venkatasubr....
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....verified, the Adjudicating Authority could not have referred the matter to the SRA afresh for 'scrutiny'. 69. It is claimed by the Appellants that the SRA has completely suppressed the verification by the Monitoring Committee throughout the proceedings and this amounts to fraud, and that reason the SRA's case ought to be rejected. Appellant has placed its reliance on the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kishore Samrite v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2013) 2 SCC 398 which had laid down the principles relating to the doctrine of clean hands. It was held: "29. Now, we shall deal with the question whether both or any of the petitioners in Civil Writ Petition Nos. 111/2011 and 125/2011 are guilty of suppression of material facts, not approaching the Court with clean hands, and thereby abusing the process of the Court. Before we dwell upon the facts and circumstances of the case in hand, let us refer to some case laws which would help us in dealing with the present situation with greater precision. The cases of abuse of the process of court and such allied matters have been arising before the Courts consistently. This Court has had many occasions where it dealt with the cases of this kin....
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....d "visa". Many societal pollutants create new problems of unredressed grievances and the Court should endure to take cases where the justice of the lis well- justifies it." 70. We note that the above judgement very much supports the case of the Appellant. Once the SRA itself, though the Monitoring Committee, has verified the claim of the Appellant, the SRA is estopped from re-verifying the claim of the Appellants. Further, the Corporate Debtor, its Ex-Directors, the RP have all admitted the claim of the Appellant. The following documents reveal this: a. List of Allotees in Misty Heights Project of the CD provided by Sukhbir Singh (Ex Director of CD) to the IRP [Provided in Report dated 25.09.2019 by the IRP to the Ld. AA] b. Data provided by the CFO to the Ex-Director c. Letters dated 31.05.2022, 22.11.2022 and 10.09.2023 issued by B.P Singh (Ex Director of CD) d. Builder Buyer Agreements dated 07.03.2017 and 30.09.2016 e. Ledger of Payments maintained by the Corporate Debtor f. The Daily Books of Account maintained by the Corporate Debtor g. Receipt admitting payment of Rs.3,00,000/- each on 09.03.2017 71. Thus, ....
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....Debtor where the Appellant's names have been mentioned with the corresponding amounts. Chargesheet has been filed and the case remains pending as on date. The case of fraud is further strengthened by the following facts: a. The SRA and the Corporate Debtor had unsecured financial dealings which were not fully disclosed in the plan. b. The Operational Creditor did not submit a claim in the CIRP. c. The Ex-Director of the Corporate Debtor, BP Singh has confessed to the devious conspiracy of the SRA and Promoters of the Corporate Debtor. d. When called for verification on 10.01.2025, the Appellants met the ex-directors of the Corporate Debtor along with the advocate for the SRA. No representative of the SRA was in sight in the office. e. The advocate for the ex-directors is the same as the advocate for the SRA (Order dated 26.09.2019 - Advocate Mrinal Harsh Vardhan) 74. Further, the Appellants claims that they reserve their rights to prosecute the accused in the criminal proceedings as per law. The only reason to highlight the above in the present proceedings is to highlight the conduct of the Accused who are attempting to deny the claim....
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....n Pvt. Ltd- Corporate Debtor. We find that there is sufficient material placed on record to indicate that the appellants had paid the amount [of Rs. 25.57 lakhs by Appellant in CA AT 109 and Rs. 24.62 lakhs by Appellant in CA AT Ins in 113 of 1025], which has been reflected by the resolution professional in the list of creditors, which has been admitted in his collation. The appellant in CA AT 109 has also been able to produce a ledger of the period from 1st April 2012 to 28th January 2014, which is at page 60 of the appeal paper book, which shows an amount of Rs. 22.70 lakhs and for appellant in CA AT Ins in 113 of 1025 at page 56 APB, it shows an amount of Rs. 21.70 lakhs which has been paid by the appellant. Mr BP Singh has also issued a receipt dated 12 August 2015 with respect to this payment. Both these amounts of ledger and the receipt tally with each other. Furthermore, on 7th March 2017 Mr BP Singh had also issued an allotment letter/buying agreement for a consideration price of Rs. 31.47 lakhs. Furthermore, additional payment of Rs. 3 lakhs has gone directly to MRPL - CD for rupees 3 lakhs on 9th March 2017. All these documents go on to indicate that there is sufficient m....
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....ependently. 80. At this stage the successful resolution applicant cannot turn around and say that they disown their relationship with Mr. B.P. Singh, who has signed the documents on record and who has also signed the settlement deed. It is the responsibility of the SRA to now take care of the admitted liability of the home buyers (the appellants) in the resolution plan. 81. It was also brought to our notice by the appellant that as per the orders of the adjudicating authority, when they went for a meeting with the SRA, instead of SRA they found ex-directors of the CD present in the meeting. Appellant has a strong argument to canvass that the SRA is a mask of the ex- promoters of the Directors. This goes on to show further investigation as apparently ex-Directors appear to have come back in the SRA. We don't want to come to a conclusion on the issues, but it will suffice to say that it needs further investigation. 82. This is a peculiar situation in which a verification clause has been included in the resolution plan and its verification depends on Successful Resolution Applicant. The claims were admitted by the resolution professional before the preparation of the info....