# In the matter of Carnival Films Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Kerala and Anr.

> HC judgment dated 2025-02-12. Citation: TCN-2025-HC-00045. The case involves a petition (OP(CRL.) NO. 790 OF 2024) filed by Carnival Films Pvt. Ltd. against…

- **Court:** HC
- **Order date:** 12 Feb 2025
- **Citation:** TCN-2025-HC-00045
- **Category:** IBC
- **Source page:** https://caseease.in/cases/ibc/high-courts-new-delhi/carnival-films-pvt-ltd-vs-state-of-kerala-and-anr-49915bd7

## Summary

### Background

The case involves a petition (OP(CRL.) NO. 790 OF 2024) filed by Carnival Films Pvt. Ltd. against the State of Kerala and Malabar Commercial Plaza Pvt. Ltd., challenging an order passed by the Judicial Magistrate of the First-Class, Thiruvananthapuram. The petitioner is facing prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, based on a complaint filed by the respondent. The petitioner argues that the proceedings should be stayed due to a moratorium declared under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, following the initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against the petitioner by the NCLT, Indore Bench. The petitioner sought a declaration that the proceedings against them cannot continue during the

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## Facts

Carnival Films Pvt. Ltd. (the petitioner) is a company facing prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, based on a complaint filed by Malabar Commercial Plaza Pvt. Ltd. (respondent No.2). An operational creditor, M/s.Amar Constructions, initiated Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Carnival Films, leading to a moratorium being declared by the NCLT, Indore Bench, under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. The NCLT order was dated 2024-03-22. The petitioner filed an application before the trial court challenging the maintainability of the complaint in light of the moratorium, but the trial court dismissed the application on 2024-07-31. The petitioner then filed the present petition before the High

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## Issues and analysis

### Issue 1: Whether the moratorium declared under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, …

**Ratio:** The moratorium under Section 14 of the IBC applies to the corporate debtor, thereby

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**Reasoning:** The court relied on the Supreme Court's judgments in P.Mohanraj and Ajay Kumar

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**Interpretation:** Section 14 of the IBC imposes a moratorium on the institution or continuation

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**Application:** In this case, the court applied the ratio to the facts by holding that the

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## Parties

- **Judges:** K. B…
- **Respondents:** Carnival Films…; STATE OF…
- **Other parties:** Kohi…

## Timeline

- **2021-01-01 — Complaint…**: Respondent No.2 filed a complaint numbered as C.C.No.996/2021 against the petitioner and…
- **2022-11-28 — Insolvency P…**: M/s.Amar Constructions approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by presenting…

## Legal provisions

- [Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Section 14 — Moratorium](https://caseease.in/legal-provisions/insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code-2016/section-14)

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This is a preview. The full structured summary, issues, precedents and source judgment are available on CaseEase - Legal Intelligence Simplified: https://caseease.in/cases/ibc/high-courts-new-delhi/carnival-films-pvt-ltd-vs-state-of-kerala-and-anr-49915bd7