The NCLT, Mumbai Bench opined that if an individual claim of each of the Operational Creditor, the amount of debt is less than rupees one lakh (as the threshold limit was at that time), it can be rejected being not maintainable.
Brief Facts:
The present petition was filed under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as “IBC”) to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and it was alleged that the Corporate Debtor has failed to make the payment to the Petitioner.
Contentions of the Operational Creditor:
The Operational Creditors were the employees of the Corporate Debtor. Legal dues such as salary etc. were not paid. It was urged that there was unequivocal, undisputed debt confirmation and acknowledgment from the Corporate Debtor, hence the present petition.
Contentions of the Corporate Debtor:
It was argued that a joint application under Section 9 was not maintainable. Further, the claim of each operational creditor was less than the minimum threshold of INR 1 crore.
Observations of the Tribunal:
It was observed that none of the Petitioners individually had a claim of more than Rs. 1 crore.
The issue was whether a joint Petition under Section 9 by more than one individual can be maintained if individually they do not fulfil the threshold limit of Rs. 1 crore.
The Bench opined that if an individual claim of each of the Operational Creditor, the amount of debt is less than rupees one lakh (as the threshold limit was at that time), it can be rejected being not maintainable.
The decision of the Tribunal:
Based on the aforementioned reasons, the petition was dismissed accordingly.
Case Title: Mr. Brajesh Mishra and Ors. V. M/s. Dolphin Offshore Shipping Ltd.
Case No.: CP(IB) 206 MB 2021
Coram: Hon’ble Shri Kuldip Kumar Kareer, (Judicial Member), Hon’ble Smt. Anuradha Sanjay Bhatia, (Technical Member)
Advocate for Operational Creditor: Adv. Sachin Kadam
Advocate for Corporate Debtor: Adv. Amey Hadwale
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