NCLT rejects insolvency petition against Dilip Buildcon
The Indore Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has rejected an insolvency application filed against Bhopal-based EPC firm Dilip Buildcon citing dispute over the claimed default amount. The total amount of default claimed by the operational creditor was around Rs 2.62 crore.
The applicant – Steel Scaff India Pvt Ltd – is an operational creditor, which had supplied equipment for scaffolding, shuttering, propping and pit-propping to Dilip Buildcon (the respondent). The purchase order by Dilip Buildcon was given between January and March 2023.
The terms of the purchase order were such that the applicant was required to supply the materials along with the inspection certificate and that if at any stage the respondent rejects the material then the applicant has to replace them immediately at its own cost.
The NCLT noted that after the said purchase orders the applicant supplied materials and raised invoices against which Dilip Buildcon made the payment in due course in the bank account of the applicant. However, the company did not make payment with respect to 10 invoices amounting to Rs.1.50 crore and therefore after various follow-ups the applicant sent the Demand Notice, Steel subsequently filed the present application on non-receipt of the outstanding dues.
The respondent through its reply to the Demand Notice disputed the quality of the material and the amount claimed by the applicant. The respondent has several times raised quality issues prior to the Demand Notice as issued by the applicant. Moreover, in February 2018, while conducting internal vigilance and verification at various project sites, Dilip Buildcon came across the fact that the applicant had continuously supplied sub-standard quality materials even after several warnings; therefore, it rejected the said materials and kept them aside as unused stock.
The Bhopal-based EPC company also found out that the applicant in collusion with one of the employees of the respondent Eknath Lade was supplying inferior quality materials, thereby causing loss to the respondent and affected the goodwill of the respondent. The respondent filed a complaint against the said employee under section 406 and 420 of Indian Penal Code with the police authorities at Chunabhatti Police Station, Bhopal -District, Madhya Pradesh. The charge sheet has also been filed in the matter.
The NCLT also took cognizance of the fact that Dilip Buildcon had issued a legal notice dated 07 May 2018 to the applicant for inferior quality of material, delay in delivery as well as the fact of collusion of the personnel of the applicant with the said employee of the respondent and rescinded all the Purchase Orders with the applicant and had informed the applicant about withholding of the balance payments due under the said Purchase Orders.
Keeping these facts in mind, the NCLT was convinced that the said default amount is disputed and rejected Steel Scaff’s insolvency petition against Dilip Buildcon.
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