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2023 (1) TMI 1144 - AT - Insolvency and BankruptcyInitiation of CIRP - Corporate Debtor failed to make repayment of its dues - Operational Creditor - pre-existing dispute or not - Appellant has contended that the Section 9 application was wrongly admitted by the Adjudicating Authority on the sole ground that there was no ground for pre-existing dispute between the parties though there was strict evidence proving the contrary and that aggrieved by the impugned order. Whether the operational debt claimed by the Operational Creditor was admitted by the Corporate Debtor as due and payable and not surrounded by pre-existing disputes? HELD THAT:- The Adjudicating Authority while noting that the Corporate Debtor has denied their obligation to pay pending dues to the Operational Creditor, it has further held that the disputes raised by the Corporate Debtor in denying the claims is an after-thought and that there is no evidence presented to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the work done by the Operational Creditor. The very fact that the Operational Creditor had issued a Legal Notice is suggestive of a pre-existing dispute between the two parties. That the contentions raised in the Legal Notice were countered by the Corporate Debtor reinforces the existence of dispute between the parties. It is also pertinent to note that the Legal Notice was issued much before the issue of Demand Notice. That the reply to Legal Notice clearly predates the Section 8 Demand Notice by nearly five months has somehow managed to escape the attention of the Adjudicating Authority. Thus to hold that the disputes raised in the reply to the Legal Notice is an ‘after-thought’ is fallacious and hopelessly misplaced on the part of the Adjudicating Authority. It is well settled that in Section 9 proceeding, there is no need to enter into final adjudication with regard to existence of dispute between the parties regarding operational debt. What has to be looked into is whether the defence raises a dispute which needs further adjudication by a competent court. The Corporate Debtor having raised genuine disputes in their detailed replies to the Legal Notice and the Demand Notice, the Adjudicating Authority ought not to have admitted the Section 9 application - the impugned order are set aside - appeal allowed.
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