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2021 (6) TMI 282

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..... he RP on 24.12.2020 had also been rejected by the RP on 26.12.2020, had the RP not mistaken Applicant's e-mail to be a repetition of claim as aforesaid, he would have, in all probability, rejected the Applicant's claim too on the same ground that it was filed beyond the stipulated time period. The CIRP is a time-bound process and if the Adjudicating Authority sets the clock back for the reason that the Applicant was not diligent enough in pursuing its claim, it would certainly go against the main objective of the Code - It is wrong on the part of the Applicant to submit that the RP has himself caused unnecessary delay in consideration of the claim of the Applicant, that had been filed even before the Resolution Plan was received by the RP. The Applicant had filed the claim on 24.12.2020 and the RP had responded to it on 26.12.2020. Since it is not in the powers of the RP to condone the delay, it was Applicant's duty to approach this Adjudicating Authority within reasonable time, especially in a case where the claim with the RP had been submitted by the Applicant's Advocate. While this Adjudicating Authority appreciates the submission of the Applicant that the .....

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..... he Application and marked as Annexure D (Colly) at pages 33-188. 6. However, till date, the Respondent has not informed the Applicant about the acceptance or rejection of its claim. 7. The Respondent has published Form G only on 16.09.2020 and the last date of submission of Resolution Plan was 29.11.2020. No Resolution Plan has been finalised by the Committee of Creditors till date and admission of Applicant's claim shall not prejudice any stakeholder in the CIRP. 8. On 16.12.2020, this Adjudicating Authority has excluded a period of 153 days and extended the CIRP period by further ninety days. As on the same date, the Respondent had also received response from participants interested in submitting Expression of Interest (EoI). Therefore, consideration of claim of Applicant will not disturb the ongoing CIRP. 9. The delay in submitting the proof of claim is completely unintentional and without malice. The failure is not deliberate. 10. The Applicant has relied on Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 of 2020 whereby the Hon'ble Supreme Court has extended the limitation period. It has also relied on various notifications issued by the Central as well as the Stat .....

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..... he rejection of claim by the Respondent. 17. On 30.12.2020 a Resolution Plan was submitted and the CoC initiated negotiations with the Resolution Applicant (RA). Upon receipt of this application, the Respondent informed the CoC in its fourteenth meeting held on 12.02.2021. However, on 26.02.2021, in its fifteenth meeting, the CoC put the Resolution Plan for vote. The voting was conducted between 28.02.2021 and 03.03.2021 and the Resolution Plan was approved by 82.45% of votes. Copy of Minutes of fifteenth CoC meeting is annexed with the affidavit in reply as Annexure B at pages 11 to 16. 18. The Respondent has already filed an application bearing IA No. 368/KB/ 2021 for approval of Resolution Plan before the Adjudicating Authority. 19. The Applicant has not been diligent in filing its claim with the Respondent. In the facts and circumstances of this case, the claim is liable to be rejected and the present application filed is liable to be dismissed. Submissions of Ms. Ujjaini Chatterjee, learned counsel for the applicant, in reply 20. The direction to file affidavit in reply had been issued by this Adjudicating Authority on 25.03.2021 within two weeks and the matter .....

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..... t reiterates its reliance on decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 of 2020 dated 23.03.2020 and its revival order dated 27.04.2021. In view of this, the limitation in case of all the proceedings have been condoned as a result of ongoing pandemic. Findings 29. We have heard the learned counsel appearing on both the sides and have gone through the records. 30. The CIRP against the corporate debtor in the present case had been initiated on 25.02.2020 and a public announcement concerning the same had been made by the IRP on 29.02.2020 fixing 12.03.2020 as the last date for submission of the claim. 31. The Applicant herein came to know of the CIRP on 02.11.2020, filed a claim with the RP on 24.12.2020 (as per the Applicant, and on 26.12.2020 as per the Respondent), which was rejected by the RP only on 03.05.2021 because on 24.12.2020 he had received two emails from the advocate of the Applicant pertaining to submission of claims for the Dhandhania Brothers Private Limited and RD Fan Limited and he replied to both the emails on 26.12.2020. On 26.12.2020, he received another email pertaining to submission of claim for Dhandhania Electron .....

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..... bout the CIRP. Nothing has been said in substantiation for this delay except the fact that the Government of West Bengal had decided to extend certain lockdown measures on 31.08.2020 and 01.11.2020. However, it was only activities related to education and training institutions, cinema halls, entertainment parks, gathering and congregation that were prohibited by the Government of West Bengal. This Adjudicating Authority was very much functional through video conference and has been taking up matters and deciding them during the said period. 36. It is also pertinent to note that the CoC has already approved a Resolution Plan in the present matter and the same is pending consideration by this Adjudicating Authority. A Resolution Plan is based on Information Memorandum prepared by the RP after receiving and compiling the claims received from all the creditors. If at this stage, the claim of this Applicant is allowed, the information memorandum will have to be changed and, in effect, the entire CIRP period will start again at the stage where it is about to end. 37. Further, allowing the Applicant's claim at such a belated stage, on grounds that seem specious at best, will not .....

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