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2017 (6) TMI 738 - Tri - Insolvency and BankruptcyPetition under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code - Held that:- A dispute which is covered by sub-section (6) of Section 5 of the Code has been raised by the Respondent even before the Demand Notice was issued, and notice of dispute has been given by the Respondent to the Petitioner. Sub-section (5) of Section 8 of the Code says that Adjudicating Authority shall by an order admit the Application if no notice of dispute is received by the Operational Creditor or there is no record of dispute in the information utility. This Adjudicating Authority can only admit the Application filed under sub-section (2) of Section 9 when there is no dispute regarding the amount claimed in the Demand Notice. This Adjudicating Authority has no jurisdiction to decide whether the claim of the Petitioner is proved or not. It is for the other Forums to decide the said aspect. In fact, a Suit has already been filed by the GUJCOT in the year 2003 for the amount claimed in the Demand Notice and it is still pending. The provisions that govern the admission of a Petition for triggering the Insolvency Resolution Process by an Operational Creditor are contemplated in Section 9. Therefore, what is stated in Section 9 cannot be ignored on the ground that NCLT is given jurisdiction to decide the claims against the Corporate Debtor. Therefore, there is no merit in this argument of the learned Counsel for the Petitioner. The jurisdiction conferred on the Tribunal can be exercised only if the Petition filed by the Petitioner is admitted. There is an express provision in Section 9(5) of the Code, which says that the Adjudicating Authority shall reject the Application in case of notice of dispute received by the Operational Creditor. Therefore, it cannot be said that Section 280 of the Companies Act, 2013, which deals with jurisdiction of the Tribunal, cannot override the effect of sub-section (5) of Section 9 in respect of admission of a Petition filed by an Operational Creditor. In view of the above discussion, this Petition is liable to be rejected and it is rejected under Section 9(5)(ii)(d) of the Code.
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