Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Official Liquidator Of M/S.Esskay ... vs Idbi Bank Limited on 7 February, 2024
Author: K. Sreenivasa Reddy
Bench: K Sreenivasa Reddy
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH :: AMARAVATI
(Special Original Jurisdiction)
[
3327
WEDNESDAY ,THE SEVENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY ]
TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FOUR
APHC010051282024
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K SREENIVASA REDDY
COMPANY APPL. IN COMPANY PETITION NO: 1 OF 2024
Between:
OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR OF M/S.ESSKAY SHIPPING PVT.LTD ...APPELLANT(S)
AND
IDBI BANK LIMITED ...RESPONDENTQ(S)
Counsel for the Appellant(s):SRI. T V P SAI VIHARI(SC FOR OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR) Counsel for the Respondents:
The Court made the following:2
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K. SREENIVASA REDDY COMPANY APPLICATION No.1 of 2024 in COMPANY PETITION No.201 of 2015 Order:
This Company Application has been filed for the following reliefs.
"i) Approve the highest offer of J.Saravana Vel for Rs.69,00,000/- in respect of Lot No.1 i.e. Office portion of the building at Flat No.9, Third Floor, New Door No.336, Old Door No.166, Thambu Chetty Street, George Town, Parrys, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Admeasuring 1107 Sft., including common area (Built-
up area 886 sft. + Common area 221 sft.) with fixtures and furniture (scrapped condition) and directions may kindly be issued to him to deposit the balance sale consideration of Rs.66,00,000/-after adjustment of EMD of Rs.3,00,000/- within a period of 30 days as per the terms and conditions of sale or within such time as decided by this Hon'ble Court;
ii) Approve the highest offer of Darsipudi Viswanadh for Rs.97,70,000/- in respect of Lot No.2 i.e. Land (old building in dilapidated condition in the said land) to an extent of 261.65 Sq. Yds. in T.S.No.241, Block No.6, Door No.25-12- 49, Ward No.2, Godavari Ward, Gangulavari Street, Near Vivekananda Seva Samithi, Raja Ramohanroy Road, I Town Area, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and directions may 3 kindly be issued to him to deposit the balance sale consideration of Rs.91,81,000/- after adjustment of EMD of Rs.5,89,000/- within a period of 30 days as per the terms and conditions of sale or within such time as decided by this Hon'ble Court;
iii) Approve the highest offer of The Kanaka Mahalakshmi Co- operative Bank Ltd. for Rs.4,23,33,300/- in respect of Lot No.3 i.e. vacant land to an extent of 420 Sq. Yds., covered by Survey No.9/2A1, Ward No.23, MVP Double Road, Sector 11, Near Maruti Suzuki Service Point, MVP Colony, Chinawaltair, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and directions may kindly be issued to them to deposit the balance sale consideration of Rs.3,91,20,300/- after adjustment of EMD of Rs.32,13,000/- within a period of 30 days as per the terms and conditions of sale or within such time as decided by this Hon'ble Court;
iv) Sale of assets may kindly be confirmed in favour of J Saravana Vel for Lot No.1, Darsipudi Viswanadh for Lot No.2 and The Kanaka Mahalakshmi Co-operative Bank Ltd. for Lot No.3 subject to deposit of balance sale consideration as mentioned above within a period of 30 days or within such time as decided by this Hon'ble Court;
v) Permission may kindly be granted to the Official Liquidator to handover the possession of assets of the company (in liqn.) i.e. Lot No.1, Lot No.2 and Lot No.3 to the successful bidders viz., J Saravana Vel, Darsipudi Viswanadh and The Kanaka Mahalakshmi Co- 4
operative Bank Ltd., respectively, after receipt of entire sale consideration;
vi) Permission may kindly be granted to the Official Liquidator to refund the EMD amount of 2nd & 3rd highest bidders of Lot No.1, Lot No.2 and Lot No.3 after receipt of balance sale consideration from the successful bidders;
vii) Order that the cost of this application do come out of the assets of the company.
viii) pass such order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case."
2. Heard learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the applicant.
3. The averments made in the accompanying affidavit filed in support of the application are briefly as follows.
a) By an order dated 30.08.2017 made in C.P. No.201 of 2015 M/s. Esskay Shipping Private Limited was ordered to be wound up by the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad and the Official Liquidator was appointed as Liquidator of the captioned company.
b) This Court, vide order dated 23.09.2023 made in C.A. No.10 of 2023 in C.P.No.201 of 2015, allowed the application filed for sale of the assets of the company (in liqn.) in three lots through e-auction on 5 "as is where is and whatsoever there is basis" by fixing the realizable value as the Minimum Upset Price/Reserve Price and 10% of MUP/ Reserve Price as EMD and incremental bid amount which are given below:
Lot No. and description of the property Minimum upset Earnest price money (MUP)/Reserve deposit price (EMD) Rs. Rs.
Lot No.1: Office portion of the building at 30,00,000/- 3,00,000/- Flat No.9, Third Floor, New Door No.336, (Non interest Old Door No.166, Thambu Chetty Street, bearing) George Town, Parrys, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Admeasuring 1107 Sft., including common area (Built-up area 886 sft. + Common area 221 sft.) with fixtures and furniture (scrapped condition) Lot No.2: Land (old building in 58,87,000/- 5,89,000/- dilapidated condition in the said land) to (Non interest an extent of 261.65 Sq. Yds. in bearing) T.S.No.241, Block No.6, Door No.25-12- 49, Ward No.2, Godavari Ward, Gangulavari Street, Near Vivekananda Seva Samithi, Raja Ramohanroy Road, 1 Town Area, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Lot No.3: Vacant land to an extent of 3,21,30,000/- 32,13,000/- 420 Sq. Yds., covered by Survey (Non interest No.9/2A1, Ward No.23, MVP Double bearing) Road, Sector 11, Near Maruti Suzuki Service Point, MVP Colony, Chinawaltair, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
c) In the said order, this Court also permitted the Official Liquidator to conduct e-auction through e- auction service provider viz., M/s.Rail Tel Corporation of India Limited or M/s. E-Procurement 6 Technologies Ltd. (auction Tiger.net) or such other agency, who offers to provide the required service for price less than the price at which the other provider offer the same kind of service.
d) Accordingly, a creditor meeting was conducted on 11.12.2023 at 11:30 A.M. with the officials of IDBI Bank, secured creditor of the company to finalize the name of the agency and their charges / fee for conducting online e-auction in respect of sale of assets/properties of M/s. Esskay Shipping Private Limited (In Liqn.). In the meeting, it was discussed about the rates / fees quoted by e-auction service provider viz., M/s. Rail Tel Corporation of India Limited and M/s. e-Procurement Technologies Ltd. (auction Tiger.net), the details are as follows:
Sl.No. Amount to be M/s. Rail Tel M/s. e- Remarks charged for Corporation Procurement successful of India Technologies auction/unsuccessful Limited Ltd., auction (Auction Tiger) 1 Amount to be 1) A fixed Rs.5,000/- + Fee of e-
charged amount of GST Procurement
(successful auction) will be Per Technologies
charged for property/per Ltd., (Auction
sale price auction/per Tiger) is 83%
above Rs.20 block/per lower than
Lakhs but Lot. the fee of Rail
upto Rs.50 Tel
Lakhs Corporation
of India
2)A fixed Limited
amount of
Rs.30,000/-
7
will be
charged for
sale price
above Rs.50
Lakhs
2 Amount to be OL shall Rs.3,000/- + Fee of e-
charged reimburse GST Procurement
(unsuccessful the Per Technologis
auction) operational property/per Ltd., (Auction
cost to auction/per Tiger) is 70%
empanelled block/per lower than
agency Lot. the fee of Rail
which shall Tel
not be more Corporation
than of India
Rs.10,000/- Limited.
for every
three lots.
e) Since the amount quoted by M/s. e-Procurements
Technologies Ltd. (Auction Tiger) is lower than the offer quoted by M/s. Rail Tel Corporation of India Limited, the secured creditor have suggested to utilize the services of M/s. e-Procurement Technologies Ltd. (Auction Tiger) for conducting online e-auction for sale of assets of the subject company (In Liqn.). Accordingly, the Official Liquidator has sent an e-mail dated 11.12.2023 to M/s. e-Procurement Technologies Limited (Auction Tiger) requesting to give acceptance for taking up the assignment of conducting e-auction of the sale of assets/properties of the subject company. The e-auction service provider (Auction Tiger) had vide e-mail dated 12.12.2023 accepted 8 the offer to act as E- auction service provider for auction of properties of M/s. Esskay Shipping Private Limited (In Liqn).
f) Further, the Official Liquidator had caused publication of e-auction sale notice on 18.12.2023 in "The Economic Times", covering Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu (English Daily) News Papers and in "Eenadu" Telugu Daily News Paper, Visakhapatnam Edition and Dinamani, Tamil Daily News Paper, Chennai edition through IDBI Bank on 18.12.2023. The above sale notice was also uploaded in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal for public information. Further, the following schedule is fixed for sale of the assets/properties.
Date of Inspection of 04.01.2024 and 05.01.2024 between assets/properties 11.00 AM to 5.00 PM Last date for submission of EMD 17.01.2024 at 4.00 PM Date of e-auction 19.01.2024 from 11.30 AM to 2.30 PM
g) Further, the Official Liquidator had also sent the Sale notice and terms and conditions to the e-auctioneer viz. M/s. e- Procurement Technologies Ltd. (auction Tiger.net) requesting them to upload the same on their web portal.
h) As per the schedule, the Official Liquidator had deputed his officials to facilitate the intending purchasers to have inspection of the 9 assets of the Company (in liqn.) located at Chennai and Visakhapatnam on 04.01.2024 and 05.01.2024 between 11.00 A.M to 5.00 P.M. In response, the intending bidders (14 Nos.) for Lot No.1, (4 Nos.) for Lot No.2 and (8 Nos.) for Lot No.3 had inspected the assets/properties of the company (in liqn) on the above mentioned dates. The intending bidders numbering to 28 had purchased the bid forms by remitting participation fee of Rs.2000/- for each bid form. The following bidders had paid the EMD amount within the stipulated time and submitted the bid forms and other related documents on 17.01.2023.
Lot No.1:
Sl. Name of the Bidder Bid amount Allowed to participate in No. quoted bidding 1 A.K. Steels rep. by K. 30,00,000/- Yes Ashraf Ali, Proprietor 2 M.Z. Metal & Alloys 30,00,000/- Yes rep. by M. Ahmed Taqiuddin 3 Abdullah OS 30,00,000/- Yes 4 Alexander Selvadas 30,20,000/- Yes Daniel 5 S. Anil Sandeep 31,00,000/- Yes 6 Arumugam A 30,60,000/- Yes 7 M. Nirmal Kumar 31,00,000/- Yes 8 S.K. Geetha 30,00,000/- Yes 9 J. Saravana Veli 32,00,000/- Yes 10 Chirag Bansal 30,00,000/- Yes 11 S. Ramajayam 30,20,000/- Yes 12 Uma Devi Dadi No. due to incompete bid form and the EMD amount received is not matching.
Lot No.2:
10
Sl. Name of the Bidder Bid amount Allowed to participate in No. quoted bidding 1 Gowtam Motika 58,90,000/- Yes 2 Imax Developers Private 58,87,000/- Yes Limited 3 Darsipudi Viswanadh 59,30,000/- Yes Lot No.3:
Sl. Name of the Bidder Bid amount Allowed to No. quoted participate in bidding 1 R.J. Bharat Kumar 3,33,33,300/- Yes 2 The Kanaka Mahalakshmi Co- 3,21,30,000/- Yes operative Bank Ltd.
3 Pulla Tyagaraju & Potnuru Jyothi 3,21,30,000/- Yes 4 Imax Developers Pvt.Ltd 3,21,30,000/- Yes 5 Kotapati Ventures Private 3,23,30,000/- Yes Limited, rep. by K. Srinivasa Rao & K. Sunanda Pavani
i) On 17.01.2024 in the last hour of the submission of the bid, the office of the Official Liquidator had received e-mails from the participants to guide/support them to participate in the auction as they remitted the participation fees and EMD amount. Further, on verifications of the e-mails and documents submitted by them it is noticed that due to lack of technical knowledge, some of the participants have not uploaded the bid documents on online portal of the e-auction service provider though EMD amount has been paid in time. Hence, a creditor meeting was called for with the IDBI Bank, secured creditor on 18.01.2024 to discuss the above issue. In the said meeting, the IDBI Bank officials had opined that as the bidders have 11 remitted the EMD amount within the stipulated time and also sent e-
mails to the office of the Official Liquidator and e-auction service provider instead of uploading them in the web portal, the said bidders may be allowed to participate in the e-auction to be held on 19/01/2024 in order to have a wider participation and fetch maximum best price for the assets of the company in liquidation in the interest of the creditors and workmen, if any. Accordingly, the following bidders were allowed to participate in the e-auction as they have remitted the EMD amount within the stipulated time.
Lot Number Name of the Bidder
Lot No.1 Shri Chirag Bansal
Lot No.1 Shri S. Ramajayam
Lot No.2 Shri Darsipudi Viswanadh
Lot No.3 Kotapati Ventures Private Limited,
rep by Sri K. Srinivasa Rao & K.
Sunanda Pavani.
j) That on 19.01.2024 the e-auction of the assets/properties of
the subject company through web portal was started at 11.30 AM as per the schedule time for all the three lots and the initial bid started for each lot is as under:
Lot No.1 - Rs.32,00,000/- Lot No.2 - Rs.59,30,000/- Lot No.3 - Rs.3,33,33,300/-
The e-auction was continued for Lot No.1 till 5.19 PM, for Lot No.2 till 4.12 PM and for Lot No.3 till 4.52 PM on 19.01.2024. 12
k) That after completion of the e-auction, three e-mails dated 19.01.2024 have been received from the e-auction service provider i.e M/s. e-Procurement Technologies Ltd. (Auction Tiger) furnishing the details of item wise (lot wise) break up of bid and the name of the bidders along with their bid amount and rank. The details furnished by the e-auction service provider in respect of each lot are as under:
Lot No.1:
Individual/company Rate (in Rs. In Rate (In Rs. In words) Rank name Fig) J. Saravana Vel 69,00,000/- Sixty Nine Lakh 1 S.K. Geetha 68,20,000/- Sixty Eight Lakh Twenty 2 Thousand S. Ramajayam 56,40,000/- Fifty Six Lakh Forty 3 Thousand Arumugam A 52,00,000/- Fifty Two lakh 4 M. Nirmal Kumar 48,60,000/- Forty Eight Lakh Sixty 5 Thousand S. Anil Sandeep 38,60,000/- Thirty Eight Lakh Sixty 6 Thousand Abdullah OS 33,80,000/- Thirty Three Lakh Eighty 7 Thousand From the above it indicates that the other four bidders namely A.K. Steels rep. by Sri K. Ashraf Ali, M.Z Metal & Alloys rep. by Sri M. Ahmed Taquiddin, Sri Alexander Selvadas Daniel, Sri Chirag Bansal have submitted their bids, but not increased their bid amount during the bidding.
Lot No.2:
13
Individual/company Rate (in Rs. In Rate (In Rs. In words) Rank
name Fig)
Darsipudi Viswanadh 97,70,000/- Ninety Seven Lakh 1
Seventy Thousand
Gowtam Motika 97,30,000/- Ninety Seven Lakh Thirty 2
Thousand
From the above it indicates that one bidder namely Imax Developers Private Limited has submitted his bid, but not increased their bid amount during the bidding. Lot No.3:
Individual/company name Rate (in Rs. In Rate (In Rs. In words) Rank
Fig)
The Kanaka Mahalakshmi 4,23,33,300/- Four Crore Twenty 1
Co-operative Bank Ltd. Three lakh Thirty Three
Thousand Three
hundred
R Jai Bharat Kumar 4,19,33,300/- Four Crore Nineteen 2
lakh Thirty Three
Thousand Three
Hundred
Pulla Tyagaraju and 4,09,33,300/- Four Crore Nine Lakh 3
Potnuru Jyothi Thirty Three Thousand
Three Hundred
Kotapati Ventures Pvt. 3,41,33,300/- Three Crore Forty One 4
Ltd. Lakh Thirty Three
Thousand Three
Hundred
From the above, it indicates that one bidder namely Imax Developers Private Limited has submitted his bid, but not increased their bid amount in the bidding.14
l) As per the information submitted by the e-auction service provider (auction tiger) the following are the highest bidders for each lot.
Lot Name of the highest Final bid amount Minimum upst No. bidder(s) quoted (Rs.) price/reserve price (Rs.) 1 J. Saravana Vel 69,00,000/- 30,00,000/- 2 Darsipudi Viswanadh 97,70,000/- 58,87,000/- 3 The Kanaka Maha 4,23,33,300/- 3,21,30,000/-
Lakshmi Co-operative Bank Ltd.
m) That a creditor meeting has been called for with the secured creditor on 24.01.2024 to update the information of e-auction proceedings received from the e-auction service provider i.e. M/s. e- Procurement Technologies Ltd. (Auction Tiger) regarding the sale of assets/properties of the subject company (in liqn.) held on 19.01.2024. In the meeting, the details of the bids received in respect of each lot and the highest offers received for respective lots have been informed to the secured creditor. In the meeting, the representatives of secured creditor have opined that the offers received for all the three lots were above the Minimum Upset Price / Reserve Price fixed by this Court. Hence, the secured creditor has requested the Official Liquidator to place the highest offers of three lots before this Court for approval and confirmation of sale in favour of the highest bidders of respective lots. 15
4. In view of the above facts and circumstances, and the documents filed in support thereof, the application is disposed of with the following directions.
"i) The highest offer of J.Saravana Vel for Rs.69,00,000/- in respect of Lot No.1 i.e. Office portion of the building at Flat No.9, Third Floor, New Door No.336, Old Door No.166, Thambu Chetty Street, George Town, Parrys, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Admeasuring 1107 Sft., including common area (Built-up area 886 sft. + Common area 221 sft.) with fixtures and furniture (scrapped condition) is hereby approved and he is directed to deposit the balance sale consideration of Rs.66,00,000/- after adjustment of EMD of Rs.3,00,000/- within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, as per the terms and conditions of sale.
ii) The highest offer of Darsipudi Viswanadh for Rs.97,70,000/-
in respect of Lot No.2 i.e. Land (old building in dilapidated condition in the said land) to an extent of 261.65 Sq. Yds. in T.S.No.241, Block No.6, Door No.25-12- 49, Ward No.2, Godavari Ward, Gangulavari Street, Near Vivekananda Seva Samithi, Raja Ramohanroy Road, I Town Area, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh is hereby approved and he is directed to deposit the balance sale consideration 16 of Rs.91,81,000/- after adjustment of EMD of Rs.5,89,000/- within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, as per the terms and conditions of sale.
iii) The highest offer of the Kanaka Maha Lakshmi Co-operative Bank Ltd. for Rs.4,23,33,300/- in respect of Lot No.3 i.e. vacant land to an extent of 420 Sq. Yds., covered by Survey No.9/2A1, Ward No.23, MVP Double Road, Sector 11, Near Maruti Suzuki Service Point, MVP Colony, Chinawaltair, GVMC, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh is hereby approved and said Bank is directed to deposit the balance sale consideration of Rs.3,91,20,300/- after adjustment of EMD of Rs.32,13,000/- within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, as per the terms and conditions of sale.
iv) Sale of assets is confirmed in favour of J Saravana Vel for Lot No.1, Darsipudi Viswanadh for Lot No.2 and The Kanaka Maha Lakshmi Co-operative Bank Ltd. for Lot No.3 subject to deposit of balance sale consideration as mentioned above within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
v) The Official Liquidator is permitted to handover the possession of assets of the company (in liqn.) i.e. Lot No.1, Lot No.2 and Lot No.3 to the successful bidders viz., J Saravana Vel, Darsipudi 17 Viswanadh and The Kanaka Maha Lakshmi Co-operative Bank Ltd., respectively, after receipt of entire sale consideration.
vi) The Official Liquidator is permitted to refund the EMD amount of 2nd and 3rd highest bidders of Lot No.1, Lot No.2 and Lot No.3 after receipt of balance sale consideration from the successful bidders.
vii) The costs of this application do come out of the assets of the company.
____________________ K. SREENIVASA REDDY, J Date:07.02.2024 Nsr 18 HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K. SREENIVASA REDDY COMPANY APPLICATION No.1 of 2024 in COMPANY PETITION No.201 of 2015 Date:07.02.2024 Nsr