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2020 (11) TMI 10

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..... large nor amplify its jurisdiction. This bench is of the view that recovery of rent from the tenant and the eviction of tenant from the property of the Corporate Debtor is in the exclusive domain of the civil courts and cannot be dealt with by the Adjudicating Authority by invoking section 60(5) of the Code and the jurisdiction lies with the Civil Court/Rent Control Court only - In view of the fact that the respondent is paying rent all along for the property, which is an admitted fact, the liquidator is right in including this immoveable property in the liquidation estate of the Corporate Debtor. The Liquidator may take steps to register the sale deed for the property in his favour, if so advised, so that there will be a clear title for the property. The applicants in both the applications are required to approach the appropriate jurisdictional Civil Court for the remedies claimed in these applications except the sale of the property. As far as sale of the property by the liquidator is concerned, he can do so after taking possession by due process of law - Application dismissed. - M.A. No. 1512/2018 M.A. No. 47/2019 C.P. (IB) No. 1339/NCLT/MB/2017 - - - Dated:- 27-10-2020 .....

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..... this Hon ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order and direct the concerned local police authorities to provide police protection and support to the liquidator and his representatives in order to implement the order that may be passed by this Hon ble Tribunal against the Respondents; g) Pending the final hearing and disposal of this Application, this Hon ble Tribunal be pleased to restrain the Respondent, by themselves or by their respective servants, officials, representatives and agents from dealing in any matter with the Subject Property; h) Pending the final hearing and disposal of the Application, this Hon ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order and direct the Respondent, to deposit the rent at the rate of ₹ 26000 (Rupees twenty six thousand only), per month with the applicant in respect of the subject property. i) Any other reliefs that the Hon ble Tribunal may deem fit; 3. Applicant submits that he has been appointed as the Liquidator of the Corporate debtor by an order dated 12/03/2018. He submits that the Corporate debtor has rented out a property i.e. office Space No. 19, Ground floor at premise No. 8, Camac Street Kolkata to the respondent. It is .....

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..... nst the applicant, for quashing the eviction notice dated 17/04/2018 issued by the applicant. The Respondent has enclosed the property tax receipt wherein the Corporate Debtor is named as the owner of the property. 6. In the said proceedings the respondent herein submitted that that they would not pay the rent to the Liquidator unless the liquidator establishes the valid title of the corporate debtor for the property. The said application was dismissed by this Tribunal on 06/08/2018. It is submitted that subsequent to the dismissal of application No. 546/2018 the respondent has paid a sum of ₹ 6814/- on 07/08/2018. The respondent on its own reduced the rent of the property from ₹ 26,000/- per month to ₹ 21,000/- per month from December 2017. The respondent paid only ₹ 18,900/- in the month of June 2018 and subsequently stopped paying the rent. The action of the respondent is without any justification. On 12/09/2018 the applicant addressed a letter requesting the respondent to handover the possession of the property and the respondent by its reply dated 17/09/2018 wrongfully contended that the property cannot be included in the liquidation estate of the co .....

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..... iquidator shall hold the liquidation estate as a fiduciary for the benefit of all the creditors. (3) Subject to sub-section (4), the liquidation estate shall comprise all liquidation estate assets which shall include the following:- (a) any assets over which the corporate debtor has ownership rights, including all rights and interests therein as evidenced in the balance sheet of the corporate debtor or an information utility or records in the registry or any depository recording securities of the corporate debtor or by any other means as may be specified by the Board, including shares held in any subsidiary of the corporate debtor; (b) assets that may or may not be in possession of the corporate debtor including but not limited to encumbered assets; (c) tangible assets, whether movable or immovable; (d) intangible assets including but not limited to intellectual property, securities (including shares held in a subsidiary of the corporate debtor) and financial instruments, insurance policies, contractual rights; (e) assets subject to the determination of ownership by the court or authority; (f) any assets or their value recovered through proceeding .....

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..... ct that the payment of rent by the respondent to the corporate debtor, payment of property tax by the respondent on behalf of the corporate debtor and name of the corporate debtor appearing on the property tax receipt, clearly shows that the corporate debtor is the owner of the property and hence the prayers as sought for by the applicant may be allowed. MA 47 of 2019 12. This is an application filed by M/s Siddhi Edibles Private Limited seeking the following reliefs: (a) Your Honour would graciously be pleased to set aside and/or quash the eviction notice dated 17th April, 2018 and 12th September, 2018. (b) Pass such further and/or other order or orders as your Honour may deem fit and proper. 13. The applicant in this application, who is the respondent in the application No. 1512/2018, submits that they have received a notice from the respondent to vacate the premises. It is submitted that the applicant is lawful tenant and bonafide occupant of the premises and paying rent regularly since 2019 to the Corporate debtor and enclosed the bank statement to that effect. The applicant submits that during October 2016 there was dispute between the Corporate debtor a .....

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..... its that it is a settled position of law that without legal recourse a tenant cannot be evicted. 15. Heard the counsel for the Applicant in MA No. 1512 of 2018 and Respondent in MA No. 47 of 2019 and none present on behalf of the Respondent in MA No. 1512 of 2018 and Applicant in MA No. 47 of 2019. 16. At this juncture it is beneficial to refer to the judgment of the Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Embassy Property Developments Pvt. Ltd vs State of Karnataka and Ors. (MANU/SC/1661/2019) wherein it was held that: 39. If NCLT has been conferred with jurisdiction to decide all types of claims to property, of the corporate debtor, Section 18(f)(vi) would not have made the task of the interim resolution professional in taking control and custody of an asset over which the corporate debtor has ownership rights, subject to the determination of ownership by a court or other authority. In fact an asset owned by a third party, but which is in the possession of the corporate debtor under contractual arrangements, is specifically kept out of the definition of the term assets under the Explanation to Section 18. This assumes significance in view of the language used in Section .....

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..... ttee of Creditors had approved the Resolution Plan in utter disregard regard to the ingredient of Section 30(2)(e) of the I B Code and as hence the same was rejected by the Adjudicating Authority. Moreover, the Adjudicating Authority had appointed a 'Liquidator' other than the 'Existing Resolution Professional. 18. A doubt may be raised whether the above judgments dealing with the powers and duties of Resolution Professional can be made applicable to Liquidator. Section 35(1)(k) of the Code, is a clear answer to this, wherein it is provided that, subject to the directions of the Adjudicating Authority, the liquidator shall have the power to institute or defend any suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings, civil or criminal in the name of or on behalf of the Corporate Debtor. 19. It is to be noted that the Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Embassy Property Developments Pvt. Ltd, cited supra, in para 29 also held that NCLT is not a civil court and the same is extracted below: 29. The NCLT is not even a Civil Court, which has jurisdiction by virtue of Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure to try all suits of a civil nature excepting suits, of which t .....

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