FD Amounts to Asset of Corporate Debtor: NCLT Allows Custody to RP [Read Order]
Since it forms part of the statutory duties of the Resolution Professional to preserve, protect, and take control of such as FDRs, the RP is at liberty to initiate appropriate action with the concerned bank for the said purpose
Corporate Debtor - NCLT - Taxscan
Corporate Debtor - NCLT - Taxscan
The New Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has held that Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) amount to the financial assets of the Corporate Debtor and allowed the custody to the Resolution Professional.
HVR Industries (P) Ltd, the applicant, filed an application filed by Mr. Anshuj Dhingra Resolution Professional of Bindal and Bindal Batteries (P) Ltd ( ‘Corporate Debtor’) under Section 60(5) of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ( ‘Code’) read with Rule 11 of the NCLT Rules, 2016.
In the application, it has been stated that Vide the Order dated 30.05.2025 passed by the Adjudicating Authority, the Tribunal had directed the Committee of Creditors (‘CoC’) to pay the professional fee of ₹20,40,476/- along with applicable GST to the Resolution Professional within two weeks. Additionally, the CoC was directed to evaluate and take an appropriate decision regarding the remaining CIRP costs (excluding the professional fee).
The Resolution Professional issued a notice dated 04.06.2025 to HVR Industries (P) Ltd., the sole CoC member, convening a CoC meeting on 11.06.2025 to, inter alia, consider compliance with the Order dated 30.05.2025 and to evaluate the CIRP cost of
₹9,29,800/-, along with other agenda items. In pursuance of the said notice, the CoC meeting was duly held on 11.06.2025 at the office of the Resolution Professional and was attended by Mr. Vikram Bansal, Director and Authorised Representative of HVR Industries (P) Ltd.
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During the meeting held on 11.06.2025, the CoC deliberated upon compliance with the Order dated 30.05.2025 regarding payment of the professional fee. However, the CoC declined to release the said amount. Instead, the CoC advised the Resolution Professional to file a compliance report before the Adjudicating Authority and seek appropriation of his professional fee, along with applicable GST, from the maturity proceeds of the following Fixed Deposit Receipts (‘FDRs’), alleged to have been created using the funds of the Corporate Debtor.
The instant application has been filed seeking appropriate directions in furtherance of the Order dated 30.05.2025 passed by this Tribunal in IA/3531/2024. Vide the said Order, the Tribunal directed the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to pay the professional fee of ₹20,40,476/- along with applicable GST to the Resolution Professional within two weeks. In addition, the CoC was also directed to consider and take an appropriate decision regarding the CIRP costs, excluding the RP’s professional fee.
Further, with regard to the CIRP costs (excluding the RP’s professional fee), the same were originally quantified at ₹9,29,800/- (Rupees Nine Lakhs Twenty-Nine Thousand Eight Hundred only) under IA No. 6070/2023 and IA No. 3531/2024. The Committee of Creditors (CoC), in its meeting, duly deliberated upon the said costs. However, owing to limitations in available funds and resources, the CoC, in accordance with the directions issued under Order dated 30.05.2025, reconsidered and approved the CIRP costs with certain modifications, for a reduced total of ₹5,50,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Fifty Thousand only).
Notably, the CoC declined to release the said approved CIRP costs of ₹5,50,000/- to the Resolution Professional and advised that the RP include the same in the compliance report to be filed before the Adjudicating Authority, and further seek appropriate directions for disbursement of the said amount from the maturity proceeds of the FDRs, along with the professional fee of ₹21,48,476/- (Rupees Twenty-One Lakhs Forty- Eight Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-Six only).
The Applicant submitted that pursuant to the initiation of CIRP, the Current Account of the Corporate Debtor bearing No. 3702002100044133 (IFSC: PUNB0365900) maintained with Punjab National Bank, Kasna Branch, Greater Noida (U.P.) was placed under debit freeze. While the account remains frozen, the authorized signatory has since been changed to the Applicant, who is now the Resolution Professional.
It is the case of the RP that the maturity proceeds of the Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) are required to be defreezed and the respective maturity proceeds to be credited into the Current Account of the Corporate Debtor bearing Account No. 3702002100044133 (IFSC: PUNB0365900), maintained with Punjab National Bank, Kasna Branch, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
It is the statutory duty of the Resolution Professional, under Section 25(1) read with Section 25(2)(a) and 25(2)(b) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, to preserve, protect, and take custody and control of all assets of the Corporate Debtor. Fixed Deposit Receipts FDRs’ standing in the name of the Corporate Debtor constitute financial assets and form an integral part of the Corporate Debtor’s estate.
In terms of the statutory obligations under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the Resolution Professional is required to take custody and control of the assets of the Corporate Debtor, including financial assets such as Fixed Deposit Receipts, which form part of the Corporate Debtor’s estate. It is, therefore, within the RP’s lawful authority to approach the concerned bank and request defreezing of such FDRs to ensure they are brought under his control.
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