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TMI Blog2024 (8) TMI 158X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... one week. Reverification is dispensed with. Everybody waives service of the amended Petition. We proceed on the Petition as amended. 3. This Petition is a complete abuse of the process of this Court. Apart from anything else, we have to express our great displeasure in this Writ Petitioner, the Resolution Professional ("RP") of a corporate developer, taking this Court literally for granted and assuming that although the matter is listed today, since an amendment has been carried out the Court will not take up the matter. An even more astonishing submission was that we should not proceed with the matter unless and until the State Government and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority ("SRA") have filed Affidavits in Reply. This somehow proceeds on the footing that it is the Petitioner's right to demand that the Respondents must reply. We understand such a submission coming from a Respondent seeking time to file a reply. It is utterly extraordinary coming from a Petitioner. 4. Mr Chinoy appears for Respondent No 4, the slum society. It has filed an Affidavit in Reply. The other Respondents, namely, the SRA and the State Government do not think that an Affidavit in Reply is necessary. 5 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the cancellation of the LoI to the developer. But the Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") SRA gave Truly Creative an opportunity and apparently on 7th March 2019 said it could continue to implement this scheme. The society was aggrieved by this. It filed an application before the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee ("AGRC"). That application succeeded and Truly Creative's appointment was terminated. The society was permitted to appoint another developer. This order of the AGRC is of 25th October 2019 and we find a copy at Exhibit "G" at page 178 of the Petition. 9. On 7th December 2019, the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, SRA issued a notice calling a general meeting of the society to appoint another developer. At this meeting, one Arohi Infra LLP, an entity that featured two sons of the same Rajendra Barde as partners, tried to be appointed as developers; in other words 'Truly Creative' in yet another Truly Creative avatar. The eligible members of the society by majority of more than 70% rejected this proposal and appointed one Western Habitat as the developer. There is a report of the Assistant Registrar. Meanwhile, Truly Creative challenged the AGRC order of 25th Octobe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nted out that there were huge claims in excess of Rs 6,500 crores against Truly Creative. 14. It seems that the Government of Maharashtra believed that a declaration under Section 3C was nonetheless necessary for the declaration of a slum rehabilitation area. It is only on account of this that there was what we may call a revival for compliance purposes of the Section 3C proceeding and a fresh notice. 15. The RP filed this Petition on 31st January 2024 only on the basis that the Section 14 moratorium declared by the NCLT meant that the acquisition could not proceed. On 9th February 2024, when the matter was before us, the Petitioner's counsel sought time. We took it up on 16th February 2024. On that date, Senior Counsel appeared. There was some discussion on the applicability of a Supreme Court judgment. The matter was stood over to 11th March 2024. Now the Petitioner questioned the validity of the acquisition proceedings and made a submission that there was some understanding that the acquisition would not proceed. When the society disputed this position, we permitted an amendment. That has been carried out. 16. The only two points are these. First, can it ever be suggested tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edeveloped homes. They can receive no transit rent. They must remain where they are. The IBC, we are told, and the corporate fortunes or misfortunes of AA Estates must prevail over the basic and fundamental rights of society members. Because AA Estate is trying to revive itself, society members must be without shelter and forced either into penury or, at the very least, to pay from their own pockets that which AA Estates was bound to pay and failed to pay. 6. As an even more absurd alternative, it is solemnly suggested that Truearth will continue paying transit rent but without any assurance that it will ever receive any benefits for the consideration that it is actually and financially bearing and paying. 7. This, we are sorry to say, is by no means an isolated case. In a city like ours there is precisely this widespread perversion of every concept of justice, equity and law. It is solemnly being argued that a statutory provision meant to protect or meant to revive the fortunes of companies can come at the cost of residents of the city and of persons who have without homes, shelter and without financial means to acquire temporary alternate accommodation. We will not accept t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 4 of the IBC (paragraph 29) and nobody quarrels with that. Paragraph 35 of P Mohanraj puts it plainly and this would have to be read with paragraph 36. Both would need to be seen in the context of what is said earlier in paragraph 17 where Sub-section 3(a) was said to provide the answer, namely, that proceedings in Section 14 relate to transactions. In other words, as Mr Chinoy puts it, anything that is transactional or related to a transaction is affected by a Section 14 moratorium. But, as he rightly points out, P Mohanraj does not suggest and it is inconceivable that it could ever suggest that the operation of a statute could be stayed by Section 14 of the IBC. 20. What this Petition does is simply try to paper over the defaults of Truly Creative. 21. We cannot lose sight of the fact that in the RP's anxiety to "protect the asset of the corporate debtor" not a thing is being said in this Petition about how that asset or its preservation can ever, let alone in the meantime pending a CIRP, be used for the benefit of those persons for whom the Slum Act is intended and for whose benefit essentially Truly Creative obtained an LoI in the first place. 22. This is the cardinal point ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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