2022 (1) TMI 66 - Tri - Insolvency and Bankruptcy

Rejection of claim of the Applicant - Direction to 2nd and 3rd Respondent to pay the Applicant his dues as per the proportion for employees and workmen as stated in the Resolution Plan - HELD THAT - The Applicant in support of his claim has referred to Annexure 'A6', which is the copy of the Employee claims as appearing in the website of the 2nd Respondent. It is seen that the RP has published the list of claims received by the Employees, however there is no proof which has been placed on record by the Applicant in order to show that the said claim has been admitted. Further, in Annexure A6, it is stated that Verification with the books of accounts are pending. Once this verification is complete, the amount of claims that have been admitted/rejected/partially accepted shall be published. It has been made abundantly clear that the Resolution Applicant can be made liable for the dues which are forming part of the Information Memorandum and once the Resolution Plan is approved by this Adjudicating Authority, all the dues including the statutory dues owed to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, if not part of the resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and no proceedings in respect of such dues for the period prior to the date on which the Adjudicating Authority grants its approval under Section 31 could be continued. In the present case, the dues of the Applicant do not form part of the Information Memorandum as admitted claim and the RP has rejected the claim of the Applicant - Application dismissed.

Summary

Issues:
Application under Section 60(5) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 seeking payment of dues from Resolution Plan.

Analysis:
1. The Application was filed by an Operational Creditor seeking relief for payment of dues as per the proportion for employees and workmen stated in the Resolution Plan approved by the Adjudicating Authority. The Applicant, a Workmen/Employee of the Corporate Debtor, filed a claim for a specific amount, which the Resolution Professional (RP) updated on the website but did not pay after the approval of the Resolution Plan.

2. The Tribunal reviewed the Application and noted that the claim of the Applicant was not admitted by the RP and was rejected in full as per the Information Memorandum published. Referring to the Supreme Court's judgment, it emphasized that once a resolution plan is approved, claims provided in the plan become binding on the Corporate Debtor and all stakeholders. Any claims not part of the approved plan stand extinguished.

3. The Tribunal highlighted the importance of the Information Memorandum, which must contain details of liabilities, including those towards workers and employees, to ensure revival of the Corporate Debtor. It clarified that the Resolution Applicant can be held liable only for dues forming part of the Information Memorandum and approved Resolution Plan. Claims not part of the plan are extinguished upon approval by the Adjudicating Authority.

4. In this case, since the Applicant's dues were not admitted as part of the Resolution Plan and were rejected by the RP, the Tribunal dismissed the Application based on the principle established in the Supreme Court's judgment. The Applicant's claims not forming part of the approved plan were extinguished, and no further proceedings could be initiated for those claims.