NCLT rejects Uniton Infra insolvency plea against Shapoorji Pallonji over Rs 4.31 crore claim

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal rejected a petition filed by Uniton Infra seeking initiation of bankruptcy proceedings against Shapoorji Pallonji & Co over an alleged default of ₹4.31 crore.

Uniton Infra filed the petition under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which allows an operational creditor to seek bankruptcy proceedings. It alleged that Shapoorji Pallonji & Co did not pay it for the work carried out for resurfacing damaged cement concrete roads in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

The tribunal held that its claim did not meet the requirements for initiating bankruptcy proceedings. One of the two invoices produced by the petitioner was from a period when the government had placed a ban on filing of bankruptcy cases to lessen the economic distress of Covid. The remaining claim, the tribunal said, did not meet the ₹1 crore threshold to initiate the proceedings.


Uniton Infra argued that Shapoorji Pallonji received payments from the state's public health and municipal engineering department and was therefore required to release payments under the terms governing the project.

Shapoorji Pallonji contested the petition, arguing that the alleged outstanding amount was not due and payable. It also contended that the relevant payments from the municipal corporation had not been received for the work in question.