NCLT-Mumbai Orders Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process Against Sporta Technologies, Owner of Dream 11

NCLT-Mumbai Orders Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process Against Sporta Technologies, Owner of Dream 11

On February 9, the Mumbai branch of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted a bankruptcy petition filed by Piyush Jani against Sporta Technologies, the company that runs the Dream 11 fantasy sports website, for owing more than ₹7 crore. [Piyush Jani v. Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd]

Judicial member, Reeta Kohli, and technical member, Madhu Sinha, of the NCLT coram appointed Madan Bajrang Lal as the interim resolution professional.

Therefore, we find that the petition meets all the legal criteria for admission and it was also submitted in time before the three-year deadline. Based on these facts, we think that this Petition should be accepted under Section 9 of the Insolvency Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the order said.

Piyush Jani, the resolution professional of Reward Solutions Pvt Ltd, submitted a petition for bankruptcy due to an unpaid debt of ₹7,61,08,246.

Rewards Solutions leased a property to Sporta for five years on December 27, 2019. Sporta never paid the rent and Rewards Solution sent them a demand notice on April 20, 2021. Sporta ignored the notice leading to Rewards Solutions filing a bankruptcy petition against them.

Sporta replied to the demand notice and said that it could not bargain for the license fees because of the COVID-19 crisis and the unclear ownership of the property.

Sporta further clarified that the Enforcement Directorate sent them a temporary order to seize the property on November 27, 2020.

Sporta also denied that Rewards Solution was the operational creditor as it claimed.

The Tribunal found that the emails on record proved that there was a payment dispute that was not contested. Therefore, it decided that Sporta owed the money and Rewards Solutions showed that Sporta did not pay.

"Sporta Technologies is very much a corporate debtor and the petitioner has successfully demonstrated the existence of 'operational debt' and 'default' committed by Sporta along with the absence of any pre-existing dispute between the parties in consonance with the relevant provisions of the Code", the Tribunal stated.

Based on these findings, the NCLT decided to admit the company for the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP).

Sporta was represented by Dhruva Gandhi and Anuja Jhunjhulwala, who were instructed by M Mullah Associates.