Nagpur: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted an insolvency petition against a Chandrapur-based company over a liability of Rs2.81 lakh. It is among the smallest amounts, so far, for which a case has been fought under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, said insolvency practitioners.Even as IBC 2016 has set the threshold limit of dues for which a petition can be admitted at Rs1 lakh, rarely has a case been filed for such an amount, said professionals.The company, Samadhan Marketing and Merchandise Private Limited, is running departmental stores in Chandrapur. The petition was filed by brothers — Nandlal Popat and Dhayalal Popat, who were former directors of the company. They had leased out their premises to the company. After they quit, the company continued to run one of its stores in the property leased out by the Popat family.The lease agreement, which called for payment of rent, also included a compensation amount of Rs65,000 per month. The compensation was part of the resignation deal by the Popats. The case was filed after the cheques for the compensation amount bounced with a note that the account was closed.As the duo filed a petition in NCLT, the company argued that the amount was pending due to a civil dispute. Citing a civil suit filed against the Popat family, the company said that the payment was stopped as there was a dispute over maintenance of the rented building. The Popats were supposed to carry out repairs and ensure uninterrupted water supply to the leased premises, and hence the payment was stopped.The NCLT has observed on this that there is no correlation between the rent and compensation amount to be paid for quitting. Since there is no dispute over the said amount, the petition can be admitted.With the NCLT order, a resolution professional will be appointed by the petitioner, who will take over the company’s management. The professional will have to come up with a revival plan for the business within 180 days. The plan has to be acceptable to the committee of creditors or else the company’s assets can be liquidated.In this case so far only the two petitioners are creditors, and a public notice will be published inviting other creditors to form the committee.Manoj Jain, a chartered accountant from Mumbai, has been appointed as the resolution professional, who will be taking over in a day or two, said Archan Popat, son of Nandlal Popat, one of the petitioners.Jain said he has also come across another case where a petition was admitted for unpaid salary of Rs1.20 lakh. However, cases for small amount are rare.Amit Agrawal, also a practitioner in this field, said it is not usual for creditors to drag a company to NCLT for a small amount. Agrawal pointed out that the norms prescribe a 14-day period for admitting a petition, while here it has taken 10 months. On this, Popat said it was due to availability of dates at the tribunal.

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