Case: Ramesh Kymal Vs. M/s Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power Pvt Ltd

3. The appellant claims that a sum of INR 104,11,76,479 is due and payable to him pursuant to his resignation from all capacities held by him in the respondent in accordance with the various Employment Agreements/Incentive Agreements entered into by him with the respondent during his tenure as Chairman and Managing Director. The appellant entered into an Employment Agreement with the respondent on 16 July 2009. Another Employment Agreement was entered into on 16 December 2013, effective from 1 January 2014, which superseded the previous agreement. The Employment Agreement dated 16 December 2013 was coupled with an Incentive Agreement signed on the same date. The Incentive Agreement is stated to have been amended and restated on 17 April 2015, along with a further amendment through a Side Letter dated 20 April 2015. Further, the new Employment Agreement was amended through a Letter Amendment No. 1 dated 17 April 2015.4. On 21 January 2020, the appellant submitted his resignation to the respondent and its parent entity, detailing the entitlements which he claimed under the Employment and Incentive Agreements. On 28 January 2020, the respondent acknowledged receipt of the letter of resignation and requested the appellant to continue in employment beyond the 60 days notice period stipulated in the Employment Agreement. According to the appellant, he agreed to continue to provide his services to the respondent till 30 April 2020. There was an exchange of communications between the parties and, according to the appellant, by an email dated 27 March 2020, the respondent confirmed the payments which were due and payable to him under the letter of resignation (except for point 12). The appellant is stated to have addressed a final reminder by an email dated 27 April 2020, three days prior to the extended notice period came to an end.5. On 28 April 2020, a termination letter was addressed to the appellant. The appellant issued a demand notice on 30 April 2020 in Form 3 of the IBC. The demand notice specified that the date of default was 30 April 2020.6. On 11 May 2020, the appellant filed an application(IBA/215/2020) under Section 9 of the IBC on the ground that there was a default in the payment of his operational dues. During the pendency of the application, an Ordinance(Ordinance 9 of 2020 (the Ordinance)) was promulgated by the President of India on 5 June 2020 by which Section 10A was inserted into the IBC. Section 10A reads as follows:10A. Suspension of initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process.— Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 7,9 and 10, no application for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process of a corporate debtor shall be filed, for any default arising on or after 25th March, 2020 for a period of six months or such further period, not exceeding one year from such date, as may be notified in this behalf:Provided that no application shall ever be filed for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process of a corporate debtor for the said default occurring during the said period.Explanation – For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any default committed under the said sections before 25th March, 2020.7. The respondent filed an application(IA 395 of 2020) seeking the dismissal of the appellants application on the basis of the newly inserted provisions of Section 10A. The NCLT upheld the submission of the respondent, holding that a bar has been created by the newly inserted provisions of Section 10A. This decision has been upheld in appeal by the NCLAT.

Court's reasoning:
20. The substantive part of Section 10A adverts to an application for the initiation of the CIRP. It stipulates that for any default arising on or after 25 March 2020, no application for initiating the CIRP of a corporate debtor shall be filed for a period of six months or such further period not exceeding one year from such date as may be notified in this behalf. The expression from such date is evidently intended to refer to 25 March 2020 so that for a period of six months (extendable to one year by notification) no application for the initiation of the CIRP can be filed. The submission of the appellant is that the expression shall be filed is indicative of a legislative intent to make the provision prospective so as to apply only to those applications which were filed after 5 June 2020 when the provision was inserted. Such a construction cannot be accepted.21. The date of 25 March 2020 has consciously been provided by the legislature in the recitals to the Ordinance and Section 10A, since it coincides with the date on which the national lockdown was declared in India due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.22. The language of the provision is not always decisive to arrive at a determination whether the provision if applicable prospectively or retrospectively.23. Adopting the construction which has been suggested by the appellant would defeat the object and intent underlying the insertion of Section 10A. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic is a cataclysmic event which has serious repercussions on the financial health of corporate enterprises. The Ordinance and the Amending Act enacted by Parliament, adopt 25 March 2020 as the cut-off date. The proviso to Section 10A stipulates that no application shall ever be filed for the initiation of the CIRP for the said default occurring during the said period. The expression shall ever be filed is a clear indicator that the intent of the legislature is to bar the institution of any application for the commencement of the CIRP in respect of a default which has occurred on or after 25 March 2020 for a period of six months, extendable up to one year as notified. The explanation which has been introduced to remove doubts places the matter beyond doubt by clarifying that the statutory provision shall not apply to any default before 25 March 2020. The substantive part of Section 10A is to be construed harmoniously with the first proviso and the explanation. Reading the provisions together, it is evident that Parliament intended to impose a bar on the filing of applications for the commencement of the CIRP in respect of a corporate debtor for a default occurring on or after 25 March 2020; the embargo remaining in force for a period of six months, extendable to one year. Acceptance of the submission of the appellant would defeat the very purpose and object underlying the insertion of Section 10A. For, it would leave a whole class of corporate debtors where the default has occurred on or after 25 March 2020 outside the pale of protection because the application was filed before 5 June 2020.24. We have already clarified that the correct interpretation of Section 10A cannot be merely based on the language of the provision; rather it must take into account the object of the Ordinance and the extraordinary circumstances in which it was promulgated. It must be noted, however, that the retrospective bar on the filing of applications for the commencement of CIRP during the stipulated period does not extinguish the debt owed by the corporate debtor or the right of creditors to recover it.25. Section 10A does not contain any requirement that the Adjudicating Authority must launch into an enquiry into whether, and if so to what extent, the financial health of the corporate debtor was affected by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Parliament has stepped in legislatively because of the widespread distress caused by an unheralded public health crisis. It was cognizant of the fact that resolution applicants may not come forth to take up the process of the resolution of insolvencies (this as we have seen was referred to in the recitals to the Ordinance), which would lead to instances of the corporate debtors going under liquidation and no longer remaining a going concern. This would go against the very object of the IBC, as has been noted by a two-Judge bench of this Court in its judgment in Swiss Ribbons (P) Ltd. v. Union of India (2019) 4 SCC 17 . Speaking through Justice Rohinton F Nariman, the Court held as follows:27. As is discernible, the Preamble gives an insight into what is sought to be achieved by the Code. The Code is first and foremost, a Code for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate debtors. Unless such reorganisation is effected in a time-bound manner, the value of the assets of such persons will deplete. Therefore, maximisation of value of the assets of such persons so that they are efficiently run as going concerns is another very important objective of the Code. This, in turn, will promote entrepreneurship as the persons in management of the corporate debtor are removed and replaced by entrepreneurs. When, therefore, a resolution plan takes off and the corporate debtor is brought back into the economic mainstream, it is able to repay its debts, which, in turn, enhances the viability of credit in the hands of banks and financial institutions. Above all, ultimately, the interests of all stakeholders are looked after as the corporate debtor itself becomes a beneficiary of the resolution scheme—workers are paid, the creditors in the long run will be repaid in full, and shareholders/investors are able to maximise their investment. Timely resolution of a corporate debtor who is in the red, by an effective legal framework, would go a long way to support the development of credit markets. Since more investment can be made with funds that have come back into the economy, business then eases up, which leads, overall, to higher economic growth and development of the Indian economy. What is interesting to note is that the Preamble does not, in any manner, refer to liquidation, which is only availed of as a last resort if there is either no resolution plan or the resolution plans submitted are not up to the mark. Even in liquidation, the liquidator can sell the business of the corporate debtor as a going concern. (See ArcelorMittal [ArcelorMittal (India) (P) Ltd. v. Satish Kumar Gupta, (2019) 2 SCC 1 ] at para 83, fn 3).Hence, the embargo contained in Section 10A must receive a purposive construction which will advance the object which was sought to be achieved by enacting the provision. We are therefore unable to accept the contention of the appellant.26. The date of the initiation of the CIRP is the date on which a financial creditor, operational creditor or corporate applicant makes an application to the adjudicating authority for initiating the process. On the other hand, the insolvency commencement date is the date of the admission of the application. This distinction is also evident from the provisions of sub-section (6) of Section 7, sub-section (6) of Section 9 and sub-section (5) of Section 10. Section 7 deals with the initiation of the CIRP by a financial creditor; Section 8 provides for the insolvency resolution by an operational creditor; Section 9 provides for the application for initiation of the CIRP by an operational creditor; and Section 10 provides for the initiation of the CIRP by a corporate applicant. NCLAT has explained the difference between the initiation of the CIRP and its commencement succinctly, when it observed:13. Reading the two definition clauses in juxtaposition, it emerges that while the first viz. initiation date is referable to filing of application by the eligible applicant, the later viz. commencement date refers to passing of order of admission of application by the Adjudicating Authority. The initiation date ascribes a role to the eligible applicant whereas the commencement date rests upon exercise of power vested in the Adjudicating Authority. Adopting this interpretation would leave no scope for initiation of CIRP of a Corporate Debtor at the instance of eligible applicant in respect of Default arising on or after 25th March, 2020 as the provision engrafted in Section 10A clearly bars filing of such application by the eligible applicant for initiation of CIRP of Corporate Debtor in respect of such default. The bar created is retrospective as the cut-off date has been fixed as 25th March, 2020 while the newly inserted Section 10A introduced through the Ordinance has come into effect on 5th June, 2020. The object of the legislation has been to suspend operation of Sections 7, 9 & 10 in respect of defaults arising on or after 25th March, 2020 i.e. the date on which Nationwide lockdown was enforced disrupting normal business operations and impacting the economy globally. Indeed, the explanation removes the doubt by clarifying that such bar shall not operate in respect of any default committed prior to 25th March, 2020.27. We are in agreement with the view which has been taken by the NCLAT for the reasons which have been set out earlier in the course of this judgment. We affirm the conclusion of the NCLAT.9. The date of default is crystalized as 30 April 2020 in the demand notice issued by the appellant in Form 3, which is prescribed under Rule 5 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016. The statutory form provides for a disclosure of the particulars of the operational debt. The disclosure which has been made by the appellant includes the amount claimed in default and the date of defaultUnder Section 9(1), the operational creditor may file an application before the Adjudicating Authority for initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), after the expiry of a period of ten days from the date of delivery of the notice (or invoice demanding payment) under sub-Section (1) of Section 8, if the operational creditor does not receive payment from the corporate debtor or a notice of the dispute under sub-Section (2) of Section 8. The appellant having specified 30 April 2020 as the date of default, this appeal must proceed on that basis. It is necessary to make this clear at the outset because an attempt has been made during the course of the submissions by Mr Neeraj Kishan Kaul, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, to submit that though the demand notice mentions the date of default as 30 April 2020, the actual first date of default was 21 January 2020 when the letter of resignation was tendered and that the second date of default was 23 March 2020 when the sixty days notice period from the letter of resignation submitted by the appellant concluded. This attempt to set back the date of default to either 21 January 2020 or 23 March 2020 is plainly untenable for the reason that it is contrary to the disclosure made by the appellant in the demand notice which has been issued in pursuance of the provisions of Section 8(1) and Section 9 of the IBC. The demand notice triggers further actions which are adopted towards the initiation of the insolvency resolution process.The proviso to Section 10A stipulates that no application shall ever be filed for the initiation of the CIRP of a corporate debtor for the said default occurring during the said period. The explanation which has been inserted for the removal of doubts clarifies that Section 10A shall not apply to any default which has been committed under Sections 7, 9 and 10 before 25 March 2020.19. Section 5(11) stipulates that the date on which a financial creditor, corporate applicant or operational creditor makes an application to the adjudicating authority for initiating the CIRP is the initiation date. Distinguished from this is the insolvency commencement date, which is the date on which the application for initiating the CIRP under Sections 7, 9 or 10, as the case may be, is admitted by the Adjudicating Authority.