Delay Not Condoned by NCLAT as per Section 61 (1) & (2) of IBC
The Tribunal only focussed on the time limit of 15 days prescribed in rule books without getting into the merit of the
Delay Not Condoned by NCLAT as per Section 61 (1) & (2) of IBC The Tribunal only focussed on the time limit of 15 days prescribed in rule books without getting into the merit of the appeal The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismissed an appeal filed against the order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at New Delhi Bench on the ground that the appeal...
Delay Not Condoned by NCLAT as per Section 61 (1) & (2) of IBC
The Tribunal only focussed on the time limit of 15 days prescribed in rule books without getting into the merit of the appeal
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismissed an appeal filed against the order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at New Delhi Bench on the ground that the appeal was filed with the delay of 624 days.
The Division Bench of the NCLAT at New Delhi, comprising of Justice A.I.S. Cheema and Dr Alok Srivastava dealt with this matter titled as Mr Jasjit Singh Sawhney Suspended Director of Net 4 India Ltd. Vs. Net 4 India Limited & Anr.
The Bench did not go into the facts of the case and solely focused on the delay aspect of the matter. The Appellant is the Suspended Director of the Respondent Company – Net 4 India Limited and he is currently residing in London. It was submitted by the Appellant's advocate that there has been no communication from the Appellant since March 2021 which is when the Appellant contacted COVID-19.
It was claimed in the Application for Condonation of Delay that the order of the NCLT at New Delhi dated 8 March 2019 was wrong as it relied on Article 62 of the Limitation Act, 1963 to calculate Limitation which is not correct. On the other hand, the Respondent – Company relied on the judgments of the Supreme Court to state that the Financial Creditor also relied on balance sheets for purpose of Limitation.
The Division Bench, however, noticed that the date of the order of the NCLT at New Delhi is 8 March 2019 while the appeal against the said order was filed on 21 December 2020. The Application for Condonation of Delay is seeking condonation of delay of 624 days.
The Bench stated Section 61 (1) and (2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) which clearly provides the period of Appeal against impugned order is of 30 days and delay which could be condoned by this Tribunal is only 15 days.
The Appeal was, therefore, dismissed as being time-barred since it was filed with a delay of 624 days.