JK JUTE MILL MAZDOOR MORCHA vs JUGGILAL KAMLAPAT JUTE MILLS COMPANY LTD. THR. ITS DIRECTOR

The Supreme Court held that a trade union does not qualify as an operational creditor under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, as defined in Section 5(20) and Section 5(21), since it does not render services to the corporate debtor. The Court affirmed the decisions of the NCLT and NCLAT, which dismissed the trade union's application for collective claims, emphasizing that each worker's claim constitutes a separate cause of action. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, reinforcing the interpretation that operational creditors must be individuals or entities that provide goods or services directly to the debtor.