A Decree passed by Civil Court in case of goods supplied is an Operational Debt | Date of default is the date of decree | Interest provided by Civil Court from the date of filing the suit till the Decree and thereafter until payment is made, cannot be clubbed together to reach the threshold limit of Rs. 1 cr. under Sec. 4 of IBC – Honey Yarn Vs. Welldone Exim Pvt. Ltd. – NCLT New Delhi Bench
In this important judgment, Hon’ble NCLT held that:
(i) The amount arising out of invoices from the goods supplied by Operational Creditor is an Operational Debt, which has now been crystalized pursuant to Court Decree.
(ii) The Decree Holder cannot be excluded from the purview of Operational Creditor under Section 5(20) of the Code.
(iii) The Date of Default shall be the Date of the Decree and therefore, the present application is not barred by limitation.
(iv) The interest provided by the Civil Court acts as compensation in favour of the Applicant and is to be charged against the Respondent for the period starting from the date of filing the suit until the decree, and thereafter until payment is made.
(v) The Interest as provided by the Civil Court vide Decree dated 28.04.2023 cannot be clubbed together to reach the threshold limit of Rs. 1,00,00,000/-.