The Supreme Court held that in proceedings initiated by a financial creditor under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, the adjudicating authority is required only to examine the existence of a financial debt and default, and that the defence of a pre-existing dispute is inapplicable.
The Court was hearing a Civil Appeal filed under Section 62 of the Code challenging the dismissal of a Company Petition by the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai, and the affirming judgment of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, while allowing the appeal, observed that “the concept of a pre-existing dispute, which may be a…