The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed an insolvency petition against PepsiCo India Holdings after observing that provisions of IBC can’t be become a debt-recovery continuing.
The appellate insolvency tribunal has upheld the sooner order handed by the Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had rejected SNJ Synthetics’s plea.
“The adjudicating authority (NCLT) has not committed any infirmity in not allowing the CIRP of the corporate debtor [PepsiCo] to be initiated solely on the basis of the claim of the contested and unsubstantiated interest component,” mentioned a three-member NCLAT bench.
The NCLAT held that SNJ’s insolvency petition, filed underneath Section 9 of IBC as an operational creditor was not maintainable because the principal quantity of the debt claimed from PepsiCo had already been repaid and solely a disputed declare for curiosity remained.
“The provisions of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) cannot be turned into a debt-recovery proceedings and to commend any such course of action would tantamount to pushing the corporate debtor to face the perils of corporate death instead of being rejuvenated and revived,” NCLAT mentioned in its order handed on May 7, 2025.
The NCLAT path came to visit a petition filed against the NCLT order.
The Chandigarh bench of NCLT on January 5, 2025, dismissed the Section 9 plea filed by SNJ Synthetics against PepsiCo India Holdings after observing that within the current case, the principal quantity stands paid, subsequently the CIRP (company insolvency decision course of) can’t be initiated solely on the idea of the declare of curiosity part.
SNJ Synthetics had claimed a due of ₹1.96 crore wherein the principal quantity was at ₹91.63 lakh and had calculated curiosity on the charge of 24% every year of ₹1.05 crore as on February 28, 2021.
The events on February 10, 2023 settled the quantity of principal excellent with the reconciled quantity of ₹77.73 lakh. Thereafter, the petitioner has submitted that its declare now’s for the excellent curiosity quantity of ₹1.05 crore.
However, this was dismissed by NCLT observing that the principal quantity has been paid through the pendency of the petition, subsequently a requirement of Section 9(5)(i)(b) of IBC isn’t complied with.
The NCLT additionally mentioned the reconciled quantity was ₹77.73 lakh — 84.83% of ₹91.63 lakh, which is the principal quantity claimed within the petition — and if the identical ratio is utilized presuming the proportional discount of every of the principal quantity due from PepsiCo, the curiosity quantity works out to ₹89.21 lakh, which might be beneath the edge quantity of ₹1 crore, and thus the petition might not be maintainable for the curiosity quantity.
Moreover, the provision settlement dated October 9, 2018, didn’t have the signature of each the events, mentioned NCLT.
SNJ Synthetics is within the enterprise of PET Preform manufacturing. It entered right into a provide settlement with PepsiCo, whereby it was to fabricate merchandise to be equipped to the drinks main for the manufacturing of PET bottles for carbonated comfortable drinks, and non-carbonated drinks.
PepsiCo had transferred the enterprise to Varun Beverages underneath a enterprise switch settlement on February 18, 2019, and the dispute is earlier than that interval.
Published – May 13, 2025 01:03 am IST
