# In the matter of Gammon India Limited

> NCLT judgment dated 2023-11-09. Citation: TCN-2023-NCLT-00798. The case involves a petition filed by Mr. Ajay Kumar Krushna Pradhan, an operational creditor,…

- **Court:** NCLT
- **Order date:** 9 Nov 2023
- **Citation:** TCN-2023-NCLT-00798
- **Category:** IBC
- **Source page:** https://caseease.in/cases/ibc/nclt-division-bench-court-i-chenn/gammon-india-limited-30c799b9

## Summary

### Background

The case involves a petition filed by Mr. Ajay Kumar Krushna Pradhan, an operational creditor, against Gammon India Limited, the corporate debtor, under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The operational creditor sought to initiate the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) based on an alleged default of INR 15,26,964. The operational creditor claimed that the corporate debtor failed to pay for the labor supplied for the Chennai Metro Rail Project. The corporate debtor refuted the claim, citing issues with the demand notice, lack of invoices, and the termination of the contract.

## Facts

Mr. Ajay Kumar Krushna Pradhan, an individual civil contractor and labor supplier (Operational Creditor), filed a petition against Gammon India Limited (Corporate Debtor) under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, seeking to initiate CIRP. The claim was for INR 15,26,964, which included a principal amount of INR 11,88,299 outstanding as of 08/11/2015, plus interest. The debt allegedly arose from work done by the Operational Creditor for the Corporate Debtor's Chennai Metro Rail Project. The Corporate Debtor retained 5% of the amount towards retention money. The Corporate Debtor issued an undated balance confirmation letter on 29th September, 2015, acknowledging the amount payable. The Corporate Debtor made a part payment of INR 81,000, leaving a

…

## Issues and analysis

### Issue 1: Whether the Operational Creditor has established the existence of an operational debt and default …

**Ratio:** The existence of an operational debt must be proven with valid invoices, work orders, or

…

**Reasoning:** The NCLT found that the Operational Creditor did not provide sufficient evidence, such as

…

**Interpretation:** The court interpreted that the burden of proof lies on the Operational Creditor

…

**Application:** The court applied the ratio to the facts by finding that the Operational

…

## Parties

- **Judges:** ANIL RAJ C…; Kuldip Kumar…
- **Appellants:** Ajay Kumar…
- **Respondents:** Gammon India…

## Timeline

- **2015-07-13 — Contract Term…**: The Corporate Debtor's contract with…
- **2015-09-29 — Balance Confirmation…**: The Corporate Debtor allegedly issued an…

## 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/nclt-division-bench-court-i-chenn/gammon-india-limited-30c799b9