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2022 (7) TMI 1252 - AT - Insolvency and BankruptcyConduct of the Resolution Professional (RP) - prayer to expunge the said observations on the ground, that being adverse, it has the effect of damaging the reputation and dignity of the Appellant as Insolvency Professional. - Whether serious efforts were made by the Appellant/Resolution Professional in properly verifying the claim submitted before him by the Financial Creditor including classifying the debts into financial and operational debts? - Whether the Appellant/Resolution Professional had failed in his duty to analyse the evidence placed before him regarding the nature of transactions made by the Financial Creditor reflected in the books of Corporate Debtor and presenting the complete facts before the CoC on the admissibility of the claims of the Financial Creditor? HELD THAT:- It is an undisputed fact that the Financial Creditor submitted his claims under Rule 8 of CIRP Regulations in Form C well within the prescribed time limit in terms of the public announcement made by Appellant/Resolution Professional on 13.04.2019. The last date of submission of claims, as provided in the public announcement was 26.04.2019 and the Financial Creditor had submitted on 26.04.2019 his claim details along with supporting documents as also found in the Appeal Paper Book. Invoking CIRP Regulation 10, the Appellant/Resolution Professional sent an email on 01.05.2019 seeking additional information with respect to account statements spanning over a period of 12 years from 2007 to 2019 from the Financial Creditor - What, however, merits consideration is the reasonability on the part of the Appellant/Resolution Professional to have allowed only just twenty-four hours to the Financial Creditor to submit additional information spanning order a period of 12 years (2007-2019) and the propriety of his action of rejecting the claim of the Financial Creditor soon thereafter on 02.05.2019 after having allowed only one day’s time to furnish such additional information which entailed voluminous documentation. Section 18 of the IBC lays down the various duties of the IRP in respect of handling claim proposals. Section 18(1)(b) lays down that IRP shall “receive and collate all the claims submitted by creditors to him, pursuant to the public announcement made under Sections 13 and 15.” As regards the role of the Resolution Professional in this regard, Section 25(e) of the IBC lays down that he shall “maintain an updated list of claims.” The Resolution Professional while examining claims is therefore expected to act in a manner which inspires confidence in the Financial Creditor so as to ensure the credibility of the insolvency process. In the present matter, therefore, the question before us is therefore whether a Resolution Professional is competent to decide or reject the claims of the Financial Creditor by himself without presenting the complete facts before the CoC on the admissibility of the claims. The Resolution Professional is an important instrumentality in the insolvency resolution process and his role is crucial and critical to fulfill the objective of the IBC. It is therefore incumbent upon him to discharge his responsibilities with the highest standards of professional excellence, dexterity, integrity, rectitude, and good faith. The Adjudicating Authority based on the facts and documents presented before it, found lack of professionalism on part of the Appellant/Resolution Professional in analyzing the admissibility of claims before him. There are no reasons to disagree with the Adjudicating Authority and affirm the findings that there has been failure of duties on the part of the Appellant/Resolution Professional. There are no convincing reasons to interfere with the Impugned Order - Appeal dismissed.
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