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2020 (6) TMI 709 - Tri - Insolvency and BankruptcyMaintainability of application - initiation of CIRP - Corporate Debtor failed to make repayment of its dues - Existence of debt and dispute or not - the corporate debtor says it has disputed the liability to pay the amount sought by the Petitioner - The Corporate Debtor mentions that the Petitioner has failed to place on record any document that provides with the right to receive payment from the Corporate Debtor - the Corporate Debtor mentions that no amount is due and payable and that the subject notice has been issued only to arm twist the Respondent to succumb to the unjustified demand raised. HELD THAT:- The total amount which is being claimed by the Operational Creditor is only with respect to demurrage charges. This, the Operational Creditor mentions, is derived from the Bond letter sent by the Corporate Debtor to the Operational Creditor on Judicial Stamp paper - This Bench takes into account the fact that the Corporate Debtor has always cleared it dues/ amount owed to the Petitioner well in time except the disputed claim relating to Demurrage charges which is not enforceable, as the Bond document on the basis of which the Corporate debtor lays its claim on the purported demurrages, is a dead instrument as it never became effective in the absence of any mutually agreed date of implementation. The Bench based on the facts presented before it by both the Parties clearly understands that there is no “Agreement” between Parties for the Payment of Demurrage charges. Reliance on the Bond document for payment of Demurrage charges is not admissible as it was supposed to come into force from a mutually agreed “Effective Date” which was never arrived at. Therefore, there is no contractual or mutually agreed enforceable document based on which any demurrages can be claimed by the Petitioner - In the case on hand the contentions raised by the Corporate Debtor regarding nonpayment of demurrage charges are neither spurious nor hypothetical nor illusory and in fact there is a dispute as to existence of the debt payable by the Corporate Debtor. It is established that there is a clear dispute claimed by the Corporate Debtor as provided u/s 5(6)(a) of the Code - Petition dismissed.
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