Amendment of Section 31 of IBC is Retrospective in Nature
In the matter of Ghanashyam Mishra and Sons Private Ltd v. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company & Ors., Civil Appeal No. 8129 of 2019, a bench of Supreme Court comprising of Justice R.F.Nariman, Justice B.R.Gavai & Justice Hrishikesh Roy held that an amendment in 2019 in Section 31 of IBC is declaratory and clarificatory in nature.
Decided
13th April,2021
Issues
The issues dealt by the bench are as under:
(i) whether any creditor including the Central Government, State Government or any local authority is bound by the Resolution Plan once it is approved by an adjudicating authority under subsection (1) of Section 31 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as ‘I&B Code’)?
(ii) whether the amendment to Section 31 by Section 7 of Act 26 of 2019 is clarificatory/declaratory or substantive in nature?
(iii) whether after approval of resolution plan by the Adjudicating Authority a creditor including the Central Government, State Government or any local authority is entitled to initiate any proceedings for recovery of any of the dues from the Corporate Debtor, which are not a part of the Resolution Plan approved by the adjudicating authority?
Observation on Code
“54. It could thus be seen, that one of the dominant objects of I&B Code is to see to it, that an attempt has to be made to revive the Corporate Debtor and make it a running concern….”
“71. Perusal of the SOR would reveal, that one of the prime objects of I&B Code was to provide for implementation of insolvency resolution process in a time bound manner for maximisation of value of assets in order to balance the interests of all stakeholders. …”
( SOR*– Statement of Objects and Reasons )
Legislative Intent of Amendment of Section 31
It was noticed, that in some cases there was extensive litigation causing undue delays resultantly hampering the value maximisation. It was also found necessary to ensure, that all creditors are treated fairly.
Therefore in view of the various difficulties faced and in order to fill the critical gaps in the corporate insolvency framework, it was necessary to amend certain provisions of the I&B Code.
Clause (f) of para 3 of the SOR of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019 would amply make it clear, that the legislative intent in amending subsection (1) of Section 31 of I&B Code was to clarify, that the resolution plan approved by the Adjudicating Authority shall also be binding on the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority to whom a debt is owed in respect of payment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force, such as authorities to whom statutory dues are owed, including tax authorities.
Why Amendment was made?
The Court relied upon the matter of Union of India and others vs. Martin Lottery Agencies Ltd.(2009) 12 SCC 209 to assess the reason of amendment and held as under:
76. It could thus be seen, that the speech made by Hon’ble Finance Minister while explaining the amendment could be referred to for ascertaining what was the reason for moving the Bill. The speech can be used for finding out:
(1) what were the circumstances in which the amendment was carried out;
(2) what was the mischief for which the unamended section did not provide; and
(3) what was sought to be remedied by amended enactment.
77.It is clear, that the mischief, which was noticed prior to amendment of Section 31 of I&B Code was, that though the legislative intent was to extinguish all such debts owed to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, including the tax authorities once an approval was granted to the resolution plan by NCLT; on account of there being some ambiguity, the State/Central Government authorities continued with the proceedings in respect of the debts owed to them. In order to remedy the said mischief, the legislature thought it appropriate to clarify the position, that once such a resolution plan was approved by the Adjudicating Authority, all such claims/dues owed to the State/Central Government or any local authority including tax authorities, which were not part of the resolution plan shall stand extinguished.
82. It could thus be seen, that what is material is, to ascertain the legislative intent. If legislature by an amendment supplies an obvious omission in a former statute or explains a former statute, the subsequent statute has a relation back to the time when the prior Act was passed.
The Court further relied upon the case of B.K. Educational Services Private Limited vs. Parag Gupta and Associates (2019) 11 SCC 633, as to whether the 2018 amendment which inserted Section 238A to the I&B Code was clarificatory in nature or not.
26. In the present case also, it is clear that the amendment of Section 238A would not serve its object unless it is construed as being retrospective, as otherwise, applications seeking to resurrect time barred claims would have to be allowed, not being governed by the law of limitation.
27. We may also refer to a recent decision of this Court in SBI v. V. Ramakrishnan [SBI v. V. Ramakrishnan, (2018) 17 SCC 394] , where this Court, after referring to the selfsame Insolvency Law Committee Report, held that the amendment made to Section 14 of the Code, in which the moratorium prescribed by Section 14 was held not to apply to guarantors, was held to be clarificatory, and therefore, retrospective in nature, the object being that an overbroad interpretation of Section 14 ought to be set at rest by clarifying that this was never the intention of Section 14 from the very inception.
Other Stakeholder
The Court went on to analyse the expression ” other stakeholders” as below
87.We have no hesitation to say, that the word “other stakeholders” would squarely cover the Central Government, any State Government or any local authorities. The legislature, noticing that on account of obvious omission, certain tax authorities were not abiding by the mandate of I&B Code and continuing with the proceedings, has brought out the 2019 amendment so as to cure the said mischief. We therefore hold, that the 2019 amendment is declaratory and clarificatory in nature and therefore retrospective in operation.
Analysis of Creditor
The Court has also analysed the term “Creditor ” and held that
90. “Creditor” therefore has been defined to mean ‘any person to whom a debt is owed and includes a financial creditor, an operational creditor, a secured creditor, an unsecured creditor and a decree holder’. “
“Operational creditor” has been defined to mean a person to whom an operational debt is owed and includes any person to whom such debt has been legally assigned or transferred.
“Operational debt” has been defined to mean a claim in respect of the provision of goods or services including employment or a debt in respect of the payment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force and payable to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority.
Conclusion
The questions framed by the Court was concluded as under:
(i) That once a resolution plan is duly approved by the Adjudicating Authority under subsection (1) of Section 31, the claims as provided in the resolution plan shall stand frozen and will be binding on the Corporate Debtor and its employees, members, creditors, including the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, guarantors and other stakeholders. On the date of approval of resolution plan by the Adjudicating Authority, all such claims, which are not a part of resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and no person will be entitled to initiate or continue any proceedings in respect to a claim, which is not part of the resolution plan;
(ii) 2019 amendment to Section 31 of the I&B Code is clarificatory and declaratory in nature and therefore will be effective from the date on which I&B Code has come into effect;
(iii) Consequently all the dues including the statutory dues owed to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, if not part of the resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and no proceedings in respect of such dues for the period prior to the date on which the Adjudicating Authority grants its approval under Section 31 could be continued.
Conclusion in Other Appeal
In other tagged appeal, the Court observed that
130. In the foregoing paragraphs, we have held, that 2019 amendment to Section 31 of I&B Code is clarificatory and declaratory in nature and therefore will have a retrospective operation. As such, when the resolution plan is approved by NCLT, the claims, which are not part of the resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and the proceedings related thereto shall stand terminated. Since the subject matter of the petition are the proceedings, which relate to the claims of the respondents prior to the approval of the plan, in the light of the view taken by us, the same cannot be continued. Equally the claims, which are not part of the resolution plan, shall stand extinguished.
AMLEGALS Remarks
This decision will put rest to many frivolous litigations which are going rounds in various forums including High Courts due to various post Resolution demands from authorities et al.
The Court analysed the intent and purport of amendment in Section 31 of the Code and held that it had been done to remove the unintended mischief in the code and hence it is clarificatory and declaratory in nature with retrospective applicability from the date it was introduced in the Code itself.
The Court also held that even without the 2019 amendment, the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority to whom a debt is owed, including the statutory dues, would be covered by the term ‘creditor’ and in any case, by the term ‘other stakeholders’ as provided in subsection (1) of Section 31 of the IBC.
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