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2024 (2) TMI 735 - NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNAL , PRINCIPAL BENCH , NEW DELHI - LBScope of duty of RP - Seeking acceptance of the claims which had been rejected by the Resolution Professional - Proof of services provided and debts - RP did not convey any confirmation nor was any query raised until in response to a letter sent to the RP seeking status of his claims - it is contended by Appellant that the RP on his own had never requested the Appellant to provide further information or documents - whether the process and manner of treatment of the claims by the RP in respect of the claims filed by the Appellant is violative of the provisions of the IBC? - HELD THAT:- The RP had made it clear, time and again, that due to want of documents in support of their claims, the RP was unable to verify the claims of the Appellant. However, the Appellant failed to comply to the persistent request of the RP for documents. It was pointed out by the Learned Counsel for the Respondent that apart from unilaterally sending a composite invoice, the details of the services provided were not adequately explained by the Appellant except for enclosing a set of random snapshots of television news which find place at page 78-83A of the APB as against the scope of work claimed by the Appellant to be one which included generating positive stories, crisis management, tracking competitor news, overall media management etc. A glance at the proof of services provided on the other hand shows that it contained few newspaper advertisements on a film promotion. There are substance in the contention of the RP that not only were these media clippings skeletal and sketchy but that they were all issued on a single day while the invoice submitted was in respect of services performed for a period which was spread over more than one year. Examining the validity/sustainability of any contractual agreement including its formatting etc lies outside the purview of the charter of duties and responsibilities of the RP. In fact, determination of the tenability/validity of a contractual agreement falls in the realm of a civil dispute and therefore outside the scope and jurisdiction of both the Adjudicating Authority and the Appellate Tribunal. Be that as it may, this does not prevent the RP from seeking additional information from any creditor to substantiate his claims. In the present case, the Adjudicating Authority after considering in detail the entire facts and circumstances and material on record has rightly come to the conclusion that the claims submitted by the Appellant could not have been admitted in the CIRP of the Corporate Debtor. This inadequacy of documents to substantiate their claims by the Appellant has been noticed by the Adjudicating Authority in the impugned order - It is quite clear from the sequence of events in the present facts of the case that the RP had been consistently pointing out that he is not in a position to verify the claims due to want of documents substantiating the claims. There are no incidence of wilful negligence, or deliberate stone-walling of the claims on the part of the RP in dealing with the claim preferred by the Appellant. The Adjudicating Authority is agreed upon that the RP was well within his rights to exercise the discretion of seeking additional information from the Appellant and for which purpose he gave reasonable opportunity. The RP had made earnest and credible effort to verify the claims submitted by the Appellant and his conduct stands in sharp contrast to rather lacklustre effort by the Appellant in providing information to substantiate his claim. Thus, the bona-fide and fairness of the RP cannot be doubted. There are no error on the part of the Adjudicating Authority in affirming the conclusion drawn by the RP that the hindrance faced by him in deciding the claim of the Appellant was squarely on account of failure on the part of the Appellant to hand over proof of alleged services - there are no cogent grounds which warrants any interference in the impugned order - appeal dismissed.
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