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2023 (5) TMI 1132 - AT - Insolvency and BankruptcyInitiation of CIRP - Existence of dispute - NCLT dismissed the application - Operational Creditors - whether in the facts of the present case, a genuine and real pre-existing dispute can be said to be in existence between the two parties? - HELD THAT:- There are no material on record by way of reply to the Corporate Debtor by the Operational Creditor which substantiates their having controverted the email dated 15.10.2014. The Adjudicating Authority, has, therefore not committed any mistake in holding that the said email clearly reflected that there was a specific dispute about the poor quality of goods supplied by the Operational Creditor. It is also noticed that the quality test analysis report of Coal dated 29.09.2014 was conducted by the testing agency on the instructions of the Operational Creditor as placed at Annexure-H in the reply affidavit. This lends credulity to the contention of the Learned Counsel for the Respondent that when the test was conducted by an agency on behalf of the Appellant themselves and refund was also allowed, the poor quality of coal stood admitted by the Appellant. There was sufficient foundation of genuine disputes between the two parties and the same is amply supported by material on the record. It is not the remit of IBC to investigate all related contractual disputes and look into their merits as long as it suffices that a plausible defence has been raised as has been done in the present case. In the present factual matrix, the defence raised by the Corporate Debtor cannot be held to be moonshine, spurious, hypothetical or illusory - the Adjudicating Authority did not commit any error in rejecting the Section 9 Application filed by the Appellant on the ground of pre-existing dispute. There is no merit in the Appeal - Appeal is dismissed.
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