Bankruptcy court dismisses insolvency plea against Dentsu Communication India

The bankruptcy court in Mumbai has recently dismissed an insolvency petition filed against Dentsu Communication India, citing a lack of evidence of operational debt and raising concerns over allegedly ‘fraudulent transactions’ involving the company’s former employees and third-party vendors.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) passed this order in an application filed by Rohit Plastopack Pvt Ltd against Dentsu Communication India, alleging default of about Rs 5.42 crore.

“The applicant (Rohit Plastopack) has failed to produce any documentary evidence, such as weighbridge slips, delivery receipts, etc, to establish actual delivery of goods to the corporate debtor (Dentsu Communication),” said the division bench of a judicial bench of KR Saju Kumar and a technical member Sanjiv Dutt. “We are of the considered view that the present Application filed by the Operational Creditor under Section 9 of the Code (IBC) is not maintainable and deserves to be rejected,” said the tribunal in its order of April 4.

The tribunal further observed that the burden of proof lies upon the applicant to demonstrate that goods were delivered to the Corporate Debtor, which it has failed to discharge in the present case.

The petition, filed under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), alleged non-payment of Rs 5.42 crore for supplies of agricultural goods linked to a social campaign named “Need to Feed.” The supplies, according to the operational creditor, were ordered under the CSR wing of Dentsu and were delivered by Suumaya Agro Ltd, a third-party vendor.

However, countering these claims, Dentsu Communications, through Senior Counsel Ashish Kamat and Anindita Roy Chowdhury of AZB & Partners, argued that the transactions were unauthorised and orchestrated by former employees without management approval. The company further alleged collusion between these employees, the operational creditor, and Suumaya Group entities, prompting criminal complaints and an ongoing probe by the Enforcement Directorate.