Court turns down claim against Dharmala Agrifood
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)