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2020 (5) TMI 38

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..... e 'debt in respect of payment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force' should be payable to the Central Government, State Government or any Local authority - However it is evident from the records, that in the present case, the Operational Creditor is not a Central Government or State Government or a Local authority - Hence, the submissions made by the learned Counsel for the Operational Creditor, does not hold water in view of the interpretation given above to section 5(21) of IBC, 2016. Petition dismissed. - IBA NO. 647 OF 2019 - - - Dated:- 11-2-2020 - R. Varadharajan, Judicial Member And Anil Kumar B., Technical Member For the Appellant : Varsha Balasubramanian, Adv. For the Respondent : Cibi V .....

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..... ,719/- (Rupees Three Crore Forty Seven Lakhs Seventy Three Thousand Seven Hundred and Nineteen Only) along with interest at the rate of 18% is being claimed by the Operational Creditor from the Corporate Debtor. 4. Part V of the Application shows that the applicant has not given details of the document in order to prove the existence of the Operational debt and the amount in default. 5. The Learned Counsel for the Operational Creditor submitted that the Operational Creditor is a pharmaceutical company engaged inter alia in the business of manufacturing, development and/or marketing of various pharmaceutical products. It was submitted that the Operational Creditor entered into a Master Services Agreement dated 10.09.2013 and an addendu .....

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..... committed a grave breach of Agreements by not maintaining the minimum standards of quality and precision while conducting the test and referred to clause 2 of the first amendment agreement dated 19.09.2015 to the Master Service Agreement. 8. The learned Counsel for the Operational Creditor submitted that consequently in the meeting held at the office of the Operational Creditor on 05.04.2017, the Corporate Debtor stated that it would in a forthwith manner take steps to refund the expenses/costs incurred by the Operational Creditor in conducting the studies during the period, including the amount of ₹ 3,47,73,719/- paid by the Operational Creditor which has now been rendered invalid in the light of the suspension notice of the Europ .....

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..... roserv Ltd. [2018] 97 taxmann.com 336 (NCLT - Mum.). 11. Per Contra, the learned Counsel for the Corporate Debtor has also relied upon the following judgments in order to substantiate that the 'debt' as claimed by the Operational Creditor does not qualify to be an 'Operational Debt'. (i) NCLT Delhi: Pramod Yadav v. Divine Infracon (P.) Ltd. [2018] 97 taxmann.com 259 (NCL - AT) (ii) NCLAT, Delhi: Export Import Bank of India v. Resolution Professional JEKPL (P.) Ltd. [2018] 97 taxmann.com 241 (NCL - AT). (iii) NCLT, Mumbai: TATA Chemicals Ltd. v. Raj Process Equipments Systems (P.) Ltd. [2019] 103 taxmann.com 263 (NCLT - Mum.). 12. In relation to the judgments referred by the Learned Counsel for the Operationa .....

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..... he goods from the Corporate Debtor and in relation to the said transaction debt had arisen. 14. The Learned Counsel for the Operational Creditor referred to section 5(21) of the IBC, 2016 and persisted with by placing reliance upon the Order of this Tribunal in the matter of Nupower Renewable (P.) Ltd. (supra) submitted that 'Operational debt' is not only restricted to goods and services being rendered but also includes debt in respect of the payment of dues arising under law for the time being in force. However, a careful reading and interpretation of section 5(21) of IBC, 2016 is necessary in order to appreciate the submissions made by the learned Counsel for the Operational Creditor. Section 5(21) of the IBC, 2016, is extracte .....

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