# In the matter of Tirupati Drilling & Mining Services Private Limited vs. Sadbhav Engineering Limited

> NCLAT judgment dated 2025-04-08. Citation: TCN-2025-NCLAT-00112. The appeal arises from the dismissal of a Section 9 application under the Insolvency and…

- **Court:** NCLAT
- **Order date:** 8 Apr 2025
- **Citation:** TCN-2025-NCLAT-00112
- **Category:** IBC
- **Source page:** https://caseease.in/cases/ibc/nclat-new-delhi/tirupati-drilling-mining-services-private-limited-vs-sadbhav-engineering-limited-a9094a26

## Summary

### Background

The appeal arises from the dismissal of a Section 9 application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Ahmedabad Bench. The appellant, Tirupati Drilling & Mining Services Private Limited, filed the application against the respondent, Sadbhav Engineering Ltd, alleging non-payment of operational debt. The NCLT dismissed the application based on the existence of pre-existing disputes between the parties.

## Facts

Tirupati Drilling & Mining Services Private Limited (Appellant) provided drilling services to Sadbhav Engineering Limited (Respondent), who was engaged by Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL). A work order was issued in 2017, initially for one year and later extended until March 31, 2020. The Appellant claimed outstanding dues of ₹4,07,33,246, including principal and interest, and issued a demand notice on December 31, 2021. The Respondent disputed the amount, claiming discrepancies in the invoices and raising concerns about the quality of work. The Respondent had communicated these disputes prior to the demand notice. The NCLT dismissed the Appellant's Section 9 application, citing pre-existing disputes. The Appellant then appealed to the NCLAT.

## Issues and analysis

### Issue 1: Whether there were pre-existing disputes between the Appellant (Operational Creditor) and the …

**Ratio:** The existence of a genuine pre-existing dispute is a valid ground for rejecting a Section

…

**Reasoning:** The court examined the correspondence between the parties and found that the Respondent

…

**Interpretation:** The court interpreted the term 'dispute' under the IBC to mean a genuine

…

**Application:** The court applied the ratio to the facts and found that the Respondent's

…

## Parties

- **Judges:** Ashok Bh…; Barun M…; +1 more
- **Appellants:** Tirupati Drilling…
- **Respondents:** Sadbhav Engineerin…

## Timeline

- **2017-07-01 — Work Order…**: Sadbhav Engineering Ltd (CD) issued a Work Order to Tirupati Enterprises for drilling…
- **2018-11-01 — Proforma Invoic…**: Tirupati Enterprises raised Proforma Invoices for the period November 2018 to February…

## Legal provisions

- [Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Section 8 — Insolvency resolution by operational creditor](https://caseease.in/legal-provisions/insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code-2016/section-8)

---

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/nclat-new-delhi/tirupati-drilling-mining-services-private-limited-vs-sadbhav-engineering-limited-a9094a26