Amit Wadhwani Vs Global Advertisers (NCLAT Delhi)
Summary: NCLAT Delhi allowed the appeal of a suspended director/shareholder of Sai Estate Consultants Chembur Pvt. Ltd. and set aside the NCLT Mumbai order dated 02.08.2021 admitting Global Advertisers’ application under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The Operational Creditor had provided advertisement and hoarding services and claimed outstanding dues, while the Corporate Debtor maintained that the invoices and supporting records required reconciliation and verification before liability could crystallise. The Corporate Debtor relied particularly on correspondence dated 20.02.2020 and 14.03.2020, which preceded the Section 8 demand notice issued in June 2020. It contended that invoices were vague, several were received subject to verification, supporting documents were required, payments had been made on account, and the parties had followed a “payable when able” arrangement.
The Operational Creditor disputed these assertions and maintained that the reconciliation plea was merely an afterthought to avoid admitted operational debt. NCLAT found it significant that by letter dated 11.03.2020 the Operational Creditor itself fixed 14.03.2020 for reconciliation of accounts, but reconciliation never took place. The Tribunal held that the unresolved reconciliation exercise and prior correspondence demonstrated that the demand was not undisputed and that a pre-existing dispute existed before the Section 9 application was filed on 28.07.2020.
Want to Read the Complete Judgment?
You have read the free case summary. Unlock the full judgment, the detailed judicial reasoning and the downloadable PDF, along with every other premium judgment on TaxGuru.
Already subscribed? Log in
One subscription covers the entire premium judgment library, not just this case.
