DBS BANK LTD. Vs. INNOVENTIVE INDUSTRIES LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The company application seeks appointment of provisional liquidator of the Respondent company and an interim restraint order concerning the disposal of the company's assets pending such appointment.

(2.) The company is said to be indebted to the Applicant (who is the original Petitioner in the Company Petition) in the sum of over Rs.24.91 Crores. The Company has been referred to the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell and a consortium of lenders led by Central Bank of India has proposed a CDR scheme for the company. The Applicant herein is not part of CDR lenders, but its debt of Rs.24.91 Crores has been acknowledged in the debt profile of the company under the caption 'Non CDR lenders' in the report of the reference made to the CDR cell. It is the case of the Applicant that the company has not proposed any scheme for discharge of its outstanding claim. It is submitted that the company inter alia proposes to dispose of its assets in pursuance of the CDR scheme and also otherwise without making any payment to the Applicant and with a view to defeat the legitimate claim of the Applicant. It is submitted that the financials of the company present a dismal picture of the financial standing of the company and its ability to continue as a going concern. The Applicant has, in the premises, sought an order of provisional liquidator or at any rate, protective relief concerning the company's property and assets.

(3.) This court has held in a number of matters that mere existence of a CDR scheme, which is under implementation, is no answer by itself to a winding up petition. In any event, even in the face of a CDR scheme, though this Court may defer the admission of a winding up petition, nothing prevents this court from passing appropriate protective orders concerning the property of the company. In the premises, this Court, in its order dated 31 July 2015, noted the statement of the company's counsel that certain assets specified in the order shall not be dealt with by the company until further orders.