[Under Section 60(5) of the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code, 2016 r/w Rule 11 of the National

Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016]

1. MR. DINESH CHAPLOT

Address: 203/204, Shanti Niketan, S. M. Marg

Near Kurla Police Station, Kurla (West), Mumbai-400070

Maharashtra.

2. MR. HARSH KISHOR SAWLA Address: A/2901, RA Residences

Junction of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road & MMGS Marg

Dadar (East), Mumbai-400014, Maharashtra. …Applicant

V/s

MR. DINESH KUMAR DEORA,

RESOLUTION PROFESSIONAL OF

M/S SNEHANJALI AND S.B. DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED

Address: B-202, ABT Apartment, Rani Sati Marg

Near Navjivan School, Malad (East)

Mumbai-400097, Maharashtra. ...Respondent

IN THE MATTER OF:

MR. SANTOSH ANANDA SHETTY AND ORS …Financial Creditor

V/s

M/S SNEHANJALI AND S.B. DEVELOPERS

PRIVATE LIMITED ...Corporate Debtor

Pronounced:14.08.2024

CORAM:

HON’BLE SHRI K. R. SAJI KUMAR, MEMBER (JUDICIAL)

HON’BLE SHRI SANJIV DUTT, MEMBER (TECHNICAL)

Appearances: Hybrid Applicant: Adv. Rohit Gupta a/w Adv. Tejas Agarwal, Adv. Aman Agarwal, Adv. Anant Ratnaparkhi and Adv. Kavish Arora i/b IC Legal Respondent: Adv. Shyam Kapadia, Adv. Yash Dhruva, Adv. Niyati Merchant i/b MDP Legal

ORDER

IA (I.B.C) No. 3693/MB/2024 [PER: K. R. SAJI KUMAR, MEMBER (JUDICIAL)]

1. BACKGROUND

1.1 This IA (I.B.C) No. 3693/MB/2024 has been filed on 30.06.2024 by Mr.

Dinesh Chaplot and Mr. Harsh Kishor Sawla, under Section 60(5) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) read with Rule 11 of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016, to quash Form G dated 05.05.2024, relating to invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI), on the ground that the Respondent/Resolution Professional (RP) of M/S Snehanjali and S.B. Developers Private Limited, the Corporate Debtor (CD), barred the Applicant No. 1, who was one of the past developers of the housing project, along with Applicant No. 2 and other homebuyers, from submitting EOIs.

1.2 The Applicants also pray that in the alternative, they may be allowed to submit EOIs holding that the criteria in Form G is illegal. We admitted the CD into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in C.P. (IB) No. 1046/MB/2023 under Section 7 of the IBC for default of amount exceeding One Crore Rupees vide order dated 07.03.2024. Mr. Dinesh Kumar Deora was appointed as the IRP and later his appointment as RP was confirmed for conducting CIRP. On the interim prayer by these Applicants, we, on 07.08.2024, by an ad interim stay directed the RP not to open the EOI until further orders.

1.3 The Applicants, who are in the real estate business and related to the CD, had purchased seven flats from the CD in August, 2016. The Applicant No. 1 was the erstwhile partner of the partnership firm ‘SB Developers’ till the year 2016. Later, on 14.01.2019, the said partnership firm was converted into a private company, viz., ‘Snehanjali and S.B.

Developers Private Limited’, which is the CD in CP 1046(MB)/2023.

2. CONTENTIONS OF APPLICANT

2.1 In August 2016, the Applicants purchased seven flats from SB Developers and entered into an agreement for sale dated 10.08.2016 as well as supplementary agreement dated 11.08.2016, containing various terms and conditions. The date of possession as earlier decided was 31.03.2020, which was later changed to 31.03.2022. However, the CD failed to deliver possession of the flats to the Applicants on the above date.

2.2 The Applicants submitted that, post initiation of CIRP in respect of the CD, the public announcement was made by the RP on 09.03.2024, pursuant to which they submitted their claims before the RP in March/April 2024 and communicated for the same by emails to the Respondent/RP.

2.3 The Respondent/RP issued Form G for inviting EOI inviting Prospective Resolution Applicants (PRAs) on 05.05.2024. The last date for submission of EOI was 20.05.2024. However, for determining eligibility to submit the EOI, the Respondent/RP put one of the conditions as follows:

“(II) The existing homebuyers and past developers associated with the Corporate Debtor as well as their related/