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2019 (7) TMI 1482

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..... f a Corporate Debtor company and its liquidation can only be lost resorts - application disposed off.
MR H.P. CHATURVEDI, MEMBER JUDICIAL AND MS. SAROJ RAJWARE, MEMBER TECHNICAL For The Applicant : Mr Rahul Agarwal Adv. Alongwith Sayed Fahim Ahmed Adv. For The Respondent : Sh Zain Abbas, Adv. For The CoC : Sh Dinkar Singh, Advocate For The Suspended Board of Dorector : Sh. Arun Saxena Alongwith Shivam Mishra, Advs. ORDER As Per :-H.P. Chaturvedi, Member (Judicial) 1. This present application is filed on behalf of Resolution Applicant under Section 60(5) read with other Provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and Rules made thereafter, by the Resolution Applicant against the rejection of the Resolution plan by Resolution Applicant made before the Resolution Professional. 2. Brief facts raising to the present application are that:- (i) The Resolution Applicant came to know that the Expression of Interest ("EOI") was published by the resolution Professional on 22nd July, 2018 for inviting the Prospective Resolution Applicants to submit their Resolution Plan for the corporate Debtor which is under Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. (ii) Thc Resolution Ap .....

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..... ce they wish very well expecting the applicant to submit the Resolution Plan. 8. Hence they have prayed for the present application may be allowed. 9. We have gone through the contents of the above sated CA and reply filed thereof. We also examined the merits of the present case. As per record, it is undisputed position in the matter that the Resolution Professional did not consider the resolution plan of the Applicant for such reason that resolution plan was filed by resolution applicant after expiry of EOI and at a very belated stage i.e. on 268th day. Hence, the main ground for not considering the resolution plan of the applicant is that there was no time left to entertain any resolution plan and to consider at this stage, as the Resolution Professional has conducted the entire process as per timeline defined under IBC and so as he was duty bound to adhere to such timeline thus he refused to consider such resolution plan. 10. We dully considered the above given facts and circumstances of the present application and we are of the view that :- * The main object of the code is "to reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals .....

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..... en whose daily bread is dependent on the outcome of the corporate insolvency resolution process. If there is a resolution applicant who can continue to run the corporate debtor as a going concern, every effort must be made to try and see that this is made possible. A reasonable and balanced construction of this statute would therefore lead to the result that, where a resolution plan is upheld by the Appellate Authority, either by way of allowing or dismissing an appeal before it, the period of time taken in litigation ought to be excluded. This is not to say that the NCLT and NCLAT will be tardy in decision making. This is only to say that in the vent of NCLT, or the NCLAT, or this Court taking time to decide an application beyond the period of 270 days, the time taken in legal proceedings to decide the matter cannot possible be excluded, as otherwise a good resolution plan may have to be shelved, resulting in corporate death, and the consequent displacement of employees and workers." * By following the above stated precedent of the NCLT, Mumbai Bench in the matter of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. v. Reid Taylor (India) Ltd. [CP(IB) 382 (MB)/2018] went to held furth .....

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..... quidation. If the liquidation is ordered that too when the liquidation value is very meagre, nobody will gain. Considering the primary objective of the Code which prefers Resolution of any Corporate Debtor even at the remotest of possible opportunity, yes, this Bench is certainly inclined to afford an opportunity to the investor identified by the Applicant Association to submit the Resolution Plan even at the cost of excluding the time periods that got wasted in waiting for prospective investors, if at all he is eligible and financially sound in accordance with the real spirit of the Code. Accordingly, the investor may file an appropriate application on or before 07.01.2019 with details of this net worth so that further direction will be given in this matter in this regard. It is made very clear that the Resolution Plan has to be submitted only by the Investor and not by the Applicant Association. In order to enable the investor to submit the Resolution Plan (if he otherwise eligible), it is necessary that time period has to be either extended or time period from the date of filing of this application till the date of disposal of this application is to be excluded from the CIRP p .....

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..... to take a decision for which it may require a reasonable time of 45 days. Thus, there are grounds to exclude 45 days from CIRP in the interest of justice. In the result, Application is allowed by excluding 45 days for the purpose of counting period of CIRP and thereby allowing Resolution Professional/COC a further 45 days with immediate effect from today, to complete the CIRP and further direct the Resolution Professional to process the Resolution plans received and place before the COC and to take appropriate decision within the period allowed. The Resolution Professional to discharge his functions as usual during this period." 11. By following the above stated Judicial Precedents and by considering the prime object of the Code, we feel that the Resolution Professional and the COC should make all possible efforts towards Insolvency Resolution of a Corporate Debtor company and its liquidation can only be lost resorts. 12. Further, it is matter of consideration that the livelihood of approx. 200 workmen employed of corporate debtor is at stake. Hence, the present application deserves to be allowed. Therefore, this Bench direct the Resolution Professional to examine/scrutinize t .....

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