Goodwood Products vs M/s. Kitply Industries Ltd

Heard Learned Counsel for the Appellant.

This Appeal has been filed against the order dated 22.06.2021 passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law Tribunal), Guwahati Bench, Guwahati by which Application under Section 9 filed by the Appellant has been rejected. Appellant claim to be the Operational Creditor and when CIRP proceeding was initiated against the Corporate Debtor, he filed his claim belatedly. Resolution Professional has refused to accept the claim and IA 22 of 2019 was preferred by the Appellant before the NCLT challenging the rejection of the claim which was dismissed on 10.05.2019. The Appellant thereafter preferred Application under Section 9. The Adjudicating Authority took the view that Resolution Plan against the Corporate Debtor has already been approved by the Adjudicating Authority and all claims extinguished, hence Application under Section 9 cannot be entertained. The Adjudicating Authority has relied on the judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in “Ghanashaym Mishra and Sons Pvt. Ltd. Through the Authorised Signatory vs. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited through the Director & Ors.- (2021) SCC Online 330” as well as “Committee of Creditors of Essar Steel India Limited vs. Satish Kumar Gupta and Others- (2020) 8 SCC 531”. The Adjudicating Authority has taken the view that when the Resolution Plan was approved much before the filing of Application under Section 9, all the claims stand extinguished including the claim of the Appellant, hence, no relief can be claimed in Application under Section 9.

Learned Counsel for the Appellant submits that the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in “Ghanashaym Mishra” (supra) is distinguishable. He submits that in the present case there is a decree in favour of the Appellant and the claim should survive he being a decree holder.

We are of the view that the claim based on the decree is claim within the meaning of IBC and the said claim in the CIRP proceedings has to be treated to have been extinguished after the approval of the Resolution Plan. We do not find any ground to not follow the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in “Ghanashaym Mishra” (supra) in the facts of the present case. No error has been committed by the Adjudicating Authority in following the said judgment dismissing the Application of the Appellant. There is no merit in the Appeal. The Appeal is dismissed.