Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd vs Percept Advertising Ltd.

Per :- Justice P. N. Deshmukh, Member Judicial

This Company Petition is filed by Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter called “Operational Creditor”) seeking to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Percept Advertising Ltd. (hereinafter called “Corporate Debtor”) alleging that the Corporate Debtor committed default in making payment to the Operational Creditor. This Petition has been filed by invoking the provisions of Section 9 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (hereinafter called “Code”) read with Rule 6 of Insolvency & Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016.

The present petition is filed before this Adjudicating Authority on the ground that the Corporate Debtor failed to make payment of Principal sum of Rs.27,92,250/- (Rupees Twenty- Seven Lakhs Ninety-Two Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Only) together with interest up to 01.06.2018 of Rs. 18,73,230/-(Rupees Eighteen Lakhs Seventy-Three Thousand Two Hundred Thirty) @ 24% per annum aggregating to a sum of Rs.46,65,480/- (Rupees Forty- Six Lakhs Sixty-Five Thousand Four Hundred Eighty only).

The Operational Creditor is engaged in the business of providing services in the nature of publications, content creation and design, digital media services etc. The Corporate Debtor approached the Operational Creditor for publishing an Advertisement in their publication named “Jetwings International, Jetwings Domestic and the Chartered Accountant.”

The Operational Creditor rendered the aforesaid services as instructed by the Corporate Debtor and raised 12 invoices for the same between a time span of 1^st June 2015 to 1^st September 2015. The Date of Default of the First Invoice was 31^st August 2015 and that of the last Invoice was 30^th November 2015. The Operational Creditor has annexed copies of these invoices to the Petition and submits that these were duly received by the Corporate Debtor. The Corporate Debtor was liable to make payments against each of the invoices expeditiously. The said Invoices contained a clause which provided for levying penal interest @ 2% per annum on the bill amount if it remained unpaid after 90 days. However, the Corporate Debtor neglected their obligation and failed to make payments against the said invoices.

Consequently, the Operational Creditor sent a Notice of Unpaid Operational Debt dated 13^th July 2018 under Rule 5 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudication Authority Rules, 2016) requesting the Corporate Debtors to make payments against the unpaid invoices amounting to Rs. 46,65,480/- including interest from the respective due dates until realization. The Corporate Debtor replied to the above Demand Notice by letter dated 21^st July 2018 wherein all claims and contentions of the Operational Creditor were denied but no further reply was filed to the Petition by the Corporate Debtor.

We have heard the submissions of the Counsel appearing for the Operational Creditor and Counsel appearing for the Corporate Debtor. It is seen from the records that this Tribunal had given ample opportunities to the Corporate Debtor to file their Reply since 3^rd June 2021 when it was first listed after the lockdown period. Not only did the Corporate Debtor fail to file their reply within the stipulated period but also neglected their duty to appear before this Tribunal on several occasions. Despite this, the Tribunal accepted the Corporate Debtor’s request for time to settle the matter and granted final opportunity to the Corporate Debtor to settle within a period of 2 weeks vide Order dated 26^th October 2021. Yet the Corporate Debtor neither filed any Reply to the Petition nor settled the matter with the Operational Creditor. This inaction on the part of the Corporate Debtor amounts to admission of the debt and demonstrates their unwillingness to repay the same.

The Operational Creditor has successfully demonstrated and proved the debt and default in this case and has also proved that there is no credible reason for the Corporate Debtor to put the payment of the invoices on hold indefinitely. Since the Corporate Debtor has not filed any Reply to the Petition, this Bench is of the view that the Corporate Debtor has failed to prove the existence of any pre-existing dispute. We, therefore, conclude that this Petition satisfies all the necessary requirements for admission under Section 9 of the Code.

For the foregoing reasons, the instant Company Petition is liable to be admitted, and accordingly the same is admitted by passing the following:

Accordingly, this Petition is admitted. The Registry is hereby directed to communicate this order to both the parties and to IRP immediately.