Company Appeal (AT) (Ins.) No. 542 of 2023
Company Appeal (AT) (Ins.) No. 542 of 2023
Company Appeal (AT) (Ins.) No. 542 of 2023
Versus
Present:
Code, 2016 (“IBC” in short) by the Appellant arises out of the Order dated
the impugned order, the present appeal has been filed by Ansal Housing
2. The Learned Counsel for the Appellant making his submissions stated
that the Appellant and the Respondent were jointly developing four real estate
projects for which separate Joint Venture Agreements (“JVA” in short) were
executed between them for each such project. In terms of the collaboration
envisaged under the JVA, the Appellant was to be the Developer of the real
estate project while the Respondent was to provide the land for the project
and they were to enjoy a sharing ratio of 67.5% and 32.5% respectively from
3. Towards purchase of land for one of these real estate projects- Ansal
Hub 83-II, the Respondent had sought financial assistance of Rs.25 crore
Agreement (“ICD” in short) dated 27.03.2014. In terms of the ICD, the loan
within 24 months. The ICD also provided that the Appellant would have the
right to recover the liability of Rs.25 crore from the sales receivable of the
35,64,03,784/- had become due and payable, the default having occurred on
15.05.2015. The Respondent having failed to make the payments towards its
liability qua the ICD, the Appellant filed a Section 7 application against the
on the ground that the Appellant was not a Financial Creditor and that the
liability of the Respondent qua the ICD was not a financial debt. Aggrieved by
the dismissal of their Section 7 application, the present appeal has been
preferred.
5. Advancing their arguments further it was pointed out that the loan
disbursed by the Appellant was for the usage by the Respondent to discharge
the obligation on their part to procure land for the real estate project. Further
of 24% interest compounded monthly and thus money was disbursed against
the consideration for time value of money. Given the present facts of the case,
the borrowing of Rs.25 crore by the Respondent was clearly in the nature of
placed on the judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Swiss Ribbons Pvt.
6. It is also the case of the Appellant that the Adjudicating Authority did
not examine the fact that the Respondent had defaulted in the repayment of
the loan. It was also added that the Respondent had handed over 15 post-
dated cheques to the Appellant of which 7 were realized. Besides this, some
RTGS transfers were also made. The Learned Counsel for the Appellant
submitted that it is not in dispute that the Respondent had paid Rs.14.5 crore
to the Appellant in discharge of its liability qua the ICD but they did not
liquidate the entire debt. The defence raised by the Respondent that it had
repaid the entire loan partially in the form of payments and partially in the
form of adjustments was not correct. However, this aspect was not examined
the ICD loan was also contested by the Appellant by stating that these
the Respondent. Hence, the defence of such illusionary payments does not
its balance sheet under the head “Interest on borrowings”. It was submitted
that the accounting entries of receipts and payments in respect of the ICD;
copies of TDS certificates issued by the Respondent for the FY 2014-15 and
appreciate that it was the sole and exclusive obligation of the Respondent to
mobilize resources for this purpose. It was wrong on the part of the
Adjudicating Authority to look at the ICD and the JVA as being integral to
each other rather than view the two being independent of each other. This
erroneous conclusion that the Rs.25 crore advance made by the Appellant
Respondent under the JVA was just a security under the ICD with an optional
right with the lender to adjust the same against the ICD agreement. The
Adjudicating Authority ought not to have substituted its own views and
assumptions with the actual intention of the parties. Reliance was placed on
the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Anuj Jain v. Axis Bank Ltd.
(2020) 8 SCC 401 to contend that the Adjudicating Authority was barred
from gauging the intention of the parties beyond the intent of the ICD
submissions contended that the ICD and JVA were not independent
projects between the Appellant and the Respondent. It was further submitted
that while the JVAs were already in existence, the ICD was signed
purchase of land for one of these projects. Further, the financial assistance of
entered into was in the nature of making an investment for profit and
therefore not a financial debt. Pointing out that the ICD stipulated the
repayment of the Rs.25 crore to be secured from the receivables of the four
projects for which the two parties had entered into JVA shows the inter-
9. Submission was also made that against the loan amount of Rs.25
Thus not only was the debt discharged before the expiry of 24 months but it
was paid in excess. It was emphatically asserted that there was no liability
against the Respondent. Further adding that 15 post dated cheques had been
Appellant did not encash these cheques if there was actually a debt in
share of receivables from the four projects in favour of the Appellant and
Appellant.
10. It was vehemently contended that the amount that was jointly invested
Learned Senior Counsel for the Respondent placed reliance on the judgment
of this Tribunal in the matter of Mukesh N Desai v. Piyush Patel & Ors. in
CA (AT) (Ins.) No.789 of 2020 wherein it has been held that any amount
Section 5(8) of the IBC. Further, reference was also made to the decision of
(Ins.) No.384 of 2022 where it has been clearly held that the Joint
Development Agreement between the two parties shows that it was a case of
sharing revenue profit by both the parties and hence initiation of CIRP
has also been placed on the decision of this Tribunal in Jagbasera Infratech
Pvt. Ltd. v. Rawal Variety Construction Ltd. in 2022 SCC OnLine NCLAT
wherein it has been held that an amount invested in the joint venture project
by any party in their capacity as a promoter/investor does not fall within the
ambit of definition of Section 5(8) of the Code. It was further added that this
Tribunal in Vipul Ltd. v. Solitaire Buildmart Pvt. Ltd. in 2020 SCC OnLine
reciprocal rights and obligations and for any breach of terms of contract,
debt.
12. The brief point that falls for our consideration is whether in the facts of
the present case, the financial assistance of Rs.25 crore given by the Appellant
to the Respondent by way of an ICD for the purpose of buying land for a real
estate project which was being jointly developed under a JVA can be
14. Given the above statutory definitions of ‘financial creditor’ and ‘financial
debt’, it may now be useful to peruse the salient terms of the JVA entered into
the matter. The relevant excerpts are as reproduced below wherein the
present Respondent is described as ‘first party’ and the ‘second party’ is the
present Appellant while JSG and NCC are owners of the land:
“Whereas the said JSG and NCC (Owners) have under an arrangement
granted, permitted and authorized the First Party to construct, develop and
market the built up area and to implement the entire scheme of development
of a multistoried Group Housing colony on the Said Land by utilizing the
permissible FS] of 8,05,000 sq.ft. approximately. sanctioned/to be
sanctioned on the said land in terms of License No. 76 of. 2010 alongwith
other rights appurtenants thereto directly and/or through its agent, nominee
or collaborators.
And whereas the First Party has already made substantial investments by
way of payment to the Owners for acquiring such rights for development of
the proposed Group Housing Scheme on the Said Land and is therefore fully
entitled to engage any other party for development or marketing of the
project under the terms of the said License.
13 Sharing of areas/Receivables
13.1 That in consideration of the contribution/obligation of the First Party
and the Developers under this Agreement, it has been mutually agreed that
the entire sales realizations from sale of saleable/super built up areas to be
developed/constructed in terms of this Agreement by the Developers shall
be shared by the parties in the ratio as given hereunder:-
First Party = 32.50%
Developer = 67.50%..........”
(Emphasis supplied)
15. We next embark upon the exercise of outlining the salient terms entered
into between the two parties in the ICD wherein the present Appellant is
described as the ‘Lender’ and the present Respondent as the ‘Borrower’. The
“WHEREAS the Borrower had approached the Lender for grant of an Inter
Corporate Deposit (ICD) of Rs. 25 crores (Rupees Twenty Five Crores only) for
making the payment to the land owners pertaining to the land purchased by
the Borrower in Sector 83, Gurgaon for development of the Project Ansal's Hub
83-11 by the Lender in collaboration with the Borrower.
AND WHEREAS the Lender had considered the request of the borrower and
has placed an ICD of Rs. 25 crores (Rupees Twenty Five Crores only) on the
terms and conditions as agreed between the Lender and Borrower.
The parties hereto are now desirous of formally recording the said terms and
conditions in writing which are recorded hereinafter.
NOW IT IS HEREBY MUTUALLY AGREED BY AND BETWEEN THE PARTIES AS
FOLLOWS:
3. The Borrower shall pay interest on the principal amount of the ICD
at the rate of 24% p.a. payable/to be compounded on monthly rest. Interest
would be calculated on the basis of the year of 365 days and shall be
payable on monthly basis. Interest payment would be subject to deduction
of tax at source.
5…….
both the parties in copious details in the preceding paragraphs. Concisely put,
it is the case of the Appellant that the loan of Rs 25 crore was disbursed to
disbursement of the said loan was made with 24% compound interest which
for time value of money. It was also added that the promissory note and post-
that adjustment against the future receivables of the Respondent under the
JVA was just a security under the ICD which has been wrongly construed by
the Adjudicating Authority to come to the conclusion that the JVA and the
the advancement of money is not a financial debt simply because the real
estate projects were being jointly developed. Moreover, the fact that the
Respondent was depositing TDS qua its liability under the ICD also shows the
two agreements being independent of each other. It is also pointed out that
Rs.6.29 lakhs was outstanding qua the Appellant as on 31.03.2015 and that
this figure is also reflected in the balance sheet of 2015-16. Since, the Section
7 application was filed in 2018, the default being more than Rs. 1 lakh, the
Counsel for the Respondent, it is noted that a counter-claim has been made
to the effect that payments to the tune of Rs.3.28 crore had been made
between 2015 to 2017 by the Appellant to the Respondent even after the
alleged date of default by the Respondent which shows that no debt was in
existence. Further the very fact that the post-dated cheques were not
encashed and the security against the receivables were not invoked by the
qua the Respondent, the present claim made by the Appellant in the Section
payment of the ICD amount or interest thereof, the Appellant was mandated
to send a notice in writing to the Respondent. That no such notice had been
sent by the Appellant till date shows that there was no debt occasioning the
issue of notice. It was further asserted that Clause 4 of the ICD stipulated
that the repayment of the Rs.25 crore was to be secured from the receivables
of the four projects which had been drawn up in the JVA and that the
Appellant enjoyed the unilateral, unfettered and absolute rights to adjust the
unpaid amount from these receivables. Given this factual matrix, it was
contended that the ICD and JVAs were very much inter-dependent and when
seen together they demonstrate the collective intent of both the parties of
developing the real estate projects together and making investments for profit.
18. Before we analyse the findings of the impugned order, at the very outset
we would like to make it clear that it is settled law as laid down by the Hon’ble
borrower and that the disbursal must be against consideration for time value
Jaypee Infratech Ltd. v. Axis Bank Limited & Ors. (2020) 8 SCC 401, the
Hon’ble Supreme Court has also held that the essential condition of financial
Marketing (P) Ltd. v. Samtex Desinz (P) Ltd. (2023) 3 SCC 753, it has been
clearly held that financial debt also includes an interest free loan.
19. Given this backdrop of settled law, it may now be relevant to refer to
the impugned order to see how the Adjudicating Authority has approached
the JVA and the ICD in deciding whether the Appellant falls within the
extended by the Appellant falls within the ambit of “Financial Debt” as defined
order have made reference to the salient recitals of the JVA and the ICD and
dwelled upon them at length. These recitals have already been reproduced by
21. Now coming to the impugned order, we find that the Adjudicating
Authority has returned the findings that the ICD read with JVAs entered upon
owners of land being mutually developed by them. The relevant findings are
as extracted below:
“25. On perusal of the ICD together with Joint Venture Agreement entered
into between the parties, we do not find any force in the contention of the
Applicant that the said joint Venture agreement(s) are completely
independent commercial understanding and has no direct and/or indirect
relation with the ICD agreement. In fact, we note that JVAs are executed
prior to ICD i.e. in the year 2011 itself wherein first party (Respondent/CD)
collaborated with Developer (Applicant/FC) to develop the project. On
perusing the recitals of 'JVA', it is found that it is the CD who made an offer
to Applicant (Developer) to develop the project and also to market and sell
the same as the Applicant (Developer) has an excellent track record of
development of various real estate development projects of large sizes.
Further, it is the CD who had made substantial investment by way of
payment to the owners for acquiring rights for development of the proposed
group housing scheme………
27. Considering all these facts, we may infer without doubt that it is the
mutual business understanding of both the parties and the payment of the
price for land by Applicant to Respondent preceded by the offer given by the
Respondent to Applicant for development owing to their expertise are linked
events in a collaboration and (Applicant) Developer vide "ICD" further lent
money to Respondent for paying to the land owners only. It is difficult to
hold that both the agreements have nothing in common or that these are
independent. In our considered opinion, both JVAs and ICD are linked
together for the development of projects.
30. For the aforementioned reasons, we are of the opinion that the said
contract is in nature of joint development of projects, rather than a loan
agreement simpliciter. Both parties are more particularly involved in the
development/construction of said project whereas as per the definition of
Sec 5(8) "financial debt" means "a debt alongwith interest (if any) which is
disbursed against the consideration for the time value of money." In our
opinion, the ICD agreement cannot be read alone and is not covered in the
22. The above findings of the Adjudicating Authority has been premised on
the fact that both the JVAs and ICD are linked together for the development
of real estate projects. In both these agreements which has been entered into
between the two parties for the four projects, there are similar clauses of
it has been held that both parties being involved in the joint development of
projects for which purpose they have entered into collaborative agreements,
23. A careful perusal of the JVA and the ICD between the two parties show
as well as sharing of profits and losses in the real estate projects. This spirit
of being collaborators and profit-sharing partners is writ large in both the JVA
and the ICD and therefore the Adjudicating Authority has committed no error
in holding that the JVA and the ICD are interdependent and inter-related and
together, the purchase and availability of land for the project was an essential
When shared liability for profit is so clearly manifested in the JVA and the
ICD and responsibilities well demarcated in the execution of the real estate
and co-sharers in the real estate projects. The JVA and ICD laid the
obligations towards each other. Given this backdrop, clearly the present
transaction is in the nature of investment for profit and not disbursement for
time value of money and hence does not fall within the canvas of financial
debt as defined under Section 5(8) of the IBC. It may also not be out of place
to mention here that the primary intent and object of the IBC is the resolution
of the Corporate Debtor and not recovery of a debt of the creditor. It needs no
emphasis that the Hon’ble Apex Court in a catena of judgments have observed
that the provisions of IBC cannot be utilised by a creditor for recovery of its
debt. This Tribunal has also observed time and again that the primary focus
Corporate Debtor and that the provisions of IBC cannot be misused for staging
recovery of debt and for treating the Adjudicating Authority as a debt recovery
forum.
that both the parties being joint venture partners, there was no financial debt
in terms of Section 5(8) of IBC and hence the application under Section 7 of
the IBC could not be entertained, we see no error in the impugned order. We
hold that the Appellant is not a Financial Creditor in terms of Section 5(7) of
IBC and the application under Section 7 at the instance of the Appellant was
not maintainable and hence the same has been rightly rejected by the
We, however, are of the view that the Appellant will have the liberty to exhaust
other remedies available in law before any other appropriate forum and raise
[Barun Mitra]
Member (Technical)
PKM