NCLAT Holds Invoices Not Mandatory with Section 8 Demand Notice

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal set aside the order of the NCLT Ahmedabad rejecting a Section 9 application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and held that annexing invoices along with a demand notice under Section 8 is not mandatory where the operational debt arises directly from a contractual arrangement. 

The Appellate Tribunal observed that the Technical Guidance Agreement itself sufficiently established the operational debt and the corresponding default. The NCLAT further held that acknowledgment of liability to the extent of approximately Rs. 63 lakhs constituted clear admission of debt above the statutory threshold and that the alleged dispute raised by the corporate debtor did not amount to a genuine pre-existing dispute capable of defeating insolvency proceedings.