Court turns down claim against Dharmala Agrifood
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court on Monday turned down a bankruptcy claim jointly filed by publicly owned Bank Niaga, ING Indonesia Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) against PT Dharmala Agrifood.
Presiding judge Ch. Kristi Purnamiwulan said in the hearing on Monday that the debt claims brought by the three financial institutions had not fallen due.
She added that the debt claim between Bank Niaga and Dharmala Agrifood in particular was not related to a loan agreement but to a derivative transaction.
The judge, however, said that if the plaintiffs were not satisfied with the ruling, they are free to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Bank Niaga, ING Indonesia Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) jointly filed a bankruptcy petition against Dharmala Agrifood early last month for the latter's failure to repay debts worth US$53.8 million.
According to the plaintiff's charges, publicly listed Dharmala Agrifood had obtained loans worth Rp 16.04 billion ($2.1 million) from Bank Niaga, $16.7 million from ING Indonesia Bank and $35 million from IFC, a subsidiary of the World Bank Group.
Hotman Paris Hutapea, who represented PT Dharmala Agrifood, said he was satisfied with the ruling.
The plaintiff's lawyer Kartini Muljadi of Kartini Muljadi law firm said she would appeal to the Supreme Court as demanded by her clients.
In a related development, the Supreme Court has overturned the Jakarta Commercial Court's insolvency ruling against publicly- listed property firm PT Modernland Realty.
The Supreme Court said in its verdict No. 03 K/N/1998, dated Dec. 2 but obtained here on Monday, that the bankruptcy case pitting Modernland Realty and its two apartment buyers was not based on a legal debt obligation but on a buying and selling arrangement.
As it was not dealing with a debt obligation, the commercial court had no authority to settle the problem, or moreover to declare the property firm bankrupt, the verdict said.
The authority of the commercial court, according to the 1998 Bankruptcy Law, is only to examine bankruptcy petitions and requests for rescheduling of debt payment.
The case pitting Modernland and its buyers, therefore, should go to district courts instead of the commercial court, the verdict said.
Johan Subekti and Husein Sani filed a bankruptcy claim against property firm Modernland in September for what they called the latter's failure to repay them a Rp 90.13 million debt.
The 90.13 million was a downpayment and installment payment by Johan and Husein for apartment units at Golf Modern, Tangerang. They demanded the money be paid back following Modernland's decision to cancel the transaction.
Surprisingly, the Jakarta Commercial Court approved the claim and declared Modernland bankrupt in early October.
Modernland's lawyer Amir Syamsudin, along with lawyers from Bank Internasional Indonesia and Bank Danamon, lodged an appeal in mid-October. (aly)