Sahidullah Munshi, J. - (1.) It has been brought to the notice of the Court that an insolvency proceeding is pending being Company Petition (I.B.) No. 446/KB/2017 under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. By an order dated 7th November, 2017, the National Company Law Tribunal Calcutta Bench has passed the following order : "In view of the above we hereby admit this petition for initiating insolvency resolution process and declaring moratorium for the purposes referred to in section 14 of the I &B Code with following directions: (i) That this Bench, subject to provisions of sub sections (1) of section 14 of the Code, hereby prohibits the institution of suits or continuation of pending suits or proceedings against the corporate debtor including execution of any judgement, decree or order in any court of law, Tribunal arbitration panel or other authority; transferring, encumbering, alienating or disposing of by the corporate debtor any of its assets or any legal right or beneficial interest therein; any action to foreclose, recover or enforce any security interest created by the corporate debtor in respect of its property including any action under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and the recovery of any property by an owner or lessor where such property is occupied by or in the possession of the corporate debtor. (ii) That the supply of essential goods or services to the corporate debtor, if continuing, shall not be terminated or suspended or interrupted during moratorium period. (iii) That the provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply to such transactions as may be notified by the Central Government in consultation with any financial sector regulator. (iv) That the order of moratorium shall have effect from the date of admission of this petition till the completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process as prescribed under section 12 of the Code. (v) That his Bench hereby directs to cause public announcement of the corporate insolvency resolution process upon appointment of insolvency professional by IBBI immediately as specified under section 15 of the Code. (vi) That, moratorium is declared for the purposes referred to under 14 of the IBC Code."
(2.) Drawing attention to the said order dated 7th November, 2017 and the Judgement dated September 11, 2017 passed by this Court in CS 247 of 2010, the learned counsel appearing for the defendant submits that hearing of the instant suit should be stayed till disposal of the aforesaid proceeding. The fact situation involved in this case and the fact situation in the suit in which I passed the judgment on September 11, 2017, is identical and thus the said judgment has a direct bearing on this case. In the said judgement, I have already held "if an adjudicating authority is satisfied that the subject matter of the case is such that the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process cannot be completed within 180 days it may, by order, extend the duration of such process beyond 180 days of such further period as it thinks fit, but not exceeding 90 days. The proviso to sub-section (3) further says that any extension of the period of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the said execution shall not be granted more than once. Therefore, on a conjoint reading of the sub Sections under Section 12 it appears that the resolution process has to be completed within 180 days and further 90 days of extension (once only). If the provisions of the Code are compared with its object, it gives a logical conclusion that the Courts are prohibited from proceeding with the suits and proceedings which has direct nexus with the provisions of Section 14 of the said Code. Admittedly, the defendant is a corporate debtor. Admittedly, in a proceeding under Section 10 a moratorium has been declared, an Insolvency Resolution Professional has been appointed on and from the date of the order under Section 10 of the said code, i.e., 01.05.2017. We are now in September 2017. Therefore, it is expected that within the time frame mentioned in Section 12 the Insolvency Proceeding will be completed and it is prudent to hold that the trial of the suit will be stayed for the present for a period of four months from date with liberty to the plaintiff to bring it to the notice of the Court with regard to further development in the Insolvency Proceeding."
(3.) In view of the above, I am inclined to hold here that justice will be sub-served if further proceedings in the instant suit is stayed for a period of six months with liberty to the plaintiff to mention this matter for hearing of the suit upon notice to the defendants.;