Virendra Kumar Gupta, Member(Technical)
1. Through this application the Applicant prays to the Hon’ble Tribunal to pass necessary direction upon Respondent to transfer ₹1,18,86,862/-
from the CC A/C to the Current Account No. 08341131001507 maintained with e. Oriental Bank of Commerce OR to the following bank account of
the corporate debtor presently maintained with Kotak Mahindra Bank as per details given below-
Beneficiary Name- JVL Agro Industries Ltd. (in Liquidation)
Beneficiary Bank- Kotak Mahindra Bank
Beneficiary A/C No. 3345939325
Beneficiary Bank Address- 15 Park street, Kolkata- 700016
Bank IFSC- KKBK0000322
2. The facts, in brief, are that the Corporate Debtor in the present case was admitted into CIRP by the order of this Adjudicating Authority dated
25.07.2018 and Mr. Avishek Gupta was appointed as IRP who was later replaced by Mr. Supriyo Kumar Chaudhari as the resolution professional of
the Corporate Debtor. Subsequently, liquidation order was passed vide order dated 19.08.2020 and he was appointed as liquidator.
3. It is further stated that the corporate debtor has a cash credit (CC) account with e. Oriental Bank of Commerce (now merged with Punjab National
Bank) bearing No. 08344015000438 and is also maintaining a current account with the said Bank bearing no. 08341131001507 with the Respondent.
4. The counsel for the Applicant states that during the early stages of CIRP, when the interim Resolution Professional was managing the affairs of the
corporate debtor, ₹3,32,55,070.38 was collected from customers who made RTGS/NEFT payments to Corporate Debtor by way of depositing
invoices/advances into cash credit account bearing Account No. 08344015000438 maintained with the respondent.
5. The Applicant further states that on 14thAugust,2018 a past sum of Rs.2,13,68,208.38 was transferred by Respondent from CC A/C to current
account no.08341131001507 of corporate debtor on request of Applicant. However, ₹1,18,86,862 is still lying in CC A/C. The Applicant wrote a letter
dated 1st October, 2019 requesting the Respondent to transfer the same.
6. Despite several emails, letters and telephonic requests made by Applicant to Respondent, the aforesaid amount has not been transferred from CC
A/C to current Account of Corporate Debtor. Furthermore, the Respondent has neither replied to any communication nor given any reason for not
transferring the said amount.
7. Since, the Applicant is duty bound to take necessary steps for taking in his custody and controlling all assets and property of Corporate Debtor,
hence, this present Application before this Tribunal to direct Respondent to transfer the remaining amount to current account of Corporate Debtor.
8. We have considered the submissions made by both sides and perused the material on record.
9. It is noted that out of the sale proceeds of ₹3,32,55,070.38/- received from customers of the corporate debtor during the course of CIRP had been
deposited into CC account of the corporate debtor maintained with the Respondent Bank.
10. It is further noted that out of the said sum, a substantial amount of ₹2,13,68,208.38 has already been transferred by the Respondent Bank to the
Current Account of the corporate debtor. The balance sum of ₹1,18,86,862/- has not been transferred till date. Nor any explanation/reason has been
offered by the Respondent Bank as to why this sum could not be transferred.
11. Admittedly, this money belongs to the corporate debtor and liquidation proceedings are still on. This money needs to be distributed to all
stakeholders in terms of provisions of Section 53 of IBC, 2016
12. Accordingly, we find no reason as to why this money should not be transferred by Respondent Bank immediately to the Current Account of the
corporate debtor which is being operated by the liquidator as of now.
13. Thus, we direct the Respondent Bank to transfer the same forthwith to the Current Account of the corporate debtor maintained with the
Respondent Bank.
14. With these directions, the application filed by the liquidator stands allowed and disposed of.
15. Urgent certified copies of this order be issued, if applied for, subject to usual formalities.