IN THE NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL

MUMBAI BENCH COURT III

Under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 read with Rule 6 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to

Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016

In the matter of

Jaatvedas Construction and Contractors LLP

Having office at:

1804, 18^th Floor, the Ambience Court, Plot No.

02, Sector 19D, Vashi, Thane - 400070

…Operational Creditor/Petitioner

Versus

B.P. Gangar Construction Private Limited

Having office at:

33, 3^rd Floor, Todi Building, Mathurdas Mill Compound, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai -

400013

…Corporate Debtor/Respondent

Order pronounced on: 06.03.2024

Coram:

Hon’ble Ms. Lakshmi Gurung, Member (Judicial) Hon’ble Sh. Charanjeet Singh Gulati (Technical)

Appearances:

For the Operational Creditor: Adv. Prasannan Namboodiri

For the Corporate Debtor: Adv. Aniruth Purusothman

Per: Sh. Charanjeet Singh Gulati, Member (Technical

1. This Petition has been filed by Jaatvedas Construction and Contractors LLP (“Petitioner/ Operational Creditor”) to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (“CIRP”) against B. P. Gangar Construction Private Limited (“Respondent/Corporate Debtor”) under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“the I&B Code”) for an alleged default of Rs. 1,74,59,185 along with applicable interest from due date of each invoice.

2. The Corporate Debtor is a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 having its registered office at Mumbai, Maharashtra. Therefore, this Bench has jurisdiction to deal with the present petition.

3. It is stated that in January 2021, the Operational Creditor and the Corporate Debtor entered into an understanding wherein the Corporate Debtor engaged the Operational Creditor to supply services in the nature of execution of contract work/ civil work for construction of a building under project named “Skye31” in Wadala, Mumbai – 400031.

4. From March 2021 to December 2021, the Operational Creditor raised 4 (four) invoices aggregating to Rs. 2,82,88,654 against the services rendered, and as per these invoices, the payments had to be made immediately. The Corporate Debtor made part payments but only till June 2021 and therefrom, the Corporate Debtor failed to pay the outstanding debt amount due and payable under Invoice No. JCCLLP/BPGCPL/RA No. 3 (Invoice No. 3) and JCCLLP/BPGCPL/RA no. 4 (Invoice No. 4).

5. The Operational Creditor sent an email dated 20.12.2021 notifying about the outstanding dues. The Corporate Debtor responded by sending an email dated 28.12.2021 admitting to pay the outstanding balance and issued 4 cheques aggregating to Rs. 1,18,59,196 which returned back as dishonoured. Thereafter, two legal notices dated 29.01.2022 and 01.02.2022 were issued by the Operational Creditor under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. On 17.03.2022, the Operational Creditor issued Form-4 Notice under section 8 of the I&B Code, however, despite notice, the Corporate Debtor failed to make payment. Hence, this petition has been filed for an amount due of Rs. 1,74,59,185.

6. Since the payment was to be made immediately as per the invoices, the date of default is stated as 01.07.2021 and 01.01.2022 for Invoices No. 3 & 4 respectively. As regards amount of interest, it is submitted that since Invoice No. 3 does not mention any rate of interest, the applicable interest rate shall be as prescribed under the MSMED Act, 2006 whereas the interest rate with respect to Invoice No. 4 is mentioned as 24% per annum in the Invoice itself.

Submissions of the Corporate Debtor

7. The Corporate Debtor is part of the TMGL Group (earlier known as Tattva Mittal Group), which is engaged in real estate development and construction. The TMGL Group entered into two identical Letters of Intent dated 12.10.2020 with Jaatvedas Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. (JCCPL) whereunder JCCPL was appointed as the construction contractor for two real estate projects namely ‘Bombay XI’ and ‘Skye 31’.

8. Subsequently, the work began under the ae