NCLAT holds that the dispute as defined in Section 5(6) of the Code is not to be restricted to the pending lis or proceedings within the limited purview of Suit or Arbitration proceedings and the term ‘includes’ should be read as ‘means and includes’ including the proceedings initiated or pending before Consumer Court, Tribunal, Labour Court or Mediation, Conciliation etc. The Adjudicating Authority under the Code is required to examine prior to the admission or rejection of an Application as per Section 9 of the Code as to whether the Dispute projected by the Corporate Debtor qualifies as a Dispute as per Section 5(6) of the Code and whether Notice of Dispute given by the Corporate Debtor satisfies the conditions enumerated in Section 8(2) of the Code. It is the duty of the Adjudicating Authority to find out whether there is a plausible plea which necessitates more investigation and the dispute is not weak one or an assertion of facts unsupported by materials/evidence. If the Dispute truly exists in fact and not an imaginary or an illusory or spurious one, then, the Adjudicating Authority is bound to turn down the Application.
As far as the present case is concerned, in the instant case, between Appellant/First Respondent, there are Pre-Existing Disputes and they are quite tangible/substantial one and as such, the plausible contentions projected/raised by the parties to the present Appeal require further investigation and in short, the dispute is not to be determined by the Adjudicating Authority/Appellate Tribunal in a Summary Jurisdiction under Code. The Adjudicating Authority is not a Court of Law and the CIRP is not an adversial litigation. The Adjudicating Authority is not to decide the Application under Code like a Money Claim under the Code. Viewed in that perspective, the Adjudicating Authority is not supposed to go into the aspect of dispute in a thread bare fashion or on merits. The impugned order dated 24.02.2020 in CP(IB) No. 34/GB/2019 passed by the Adjudicating Authority in rejecting the Section 9 Application filed by the Appellant/Operational Creditor/Applicant is free from legal infirmities.