Limitation and debt-default proof govern section 7 insolvency admission; lender-arrangement objections and account-format defects were rejected.

An application under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was treated as within limitation because the Limitation Act applies from the inception of the Code, and a mortgage-backed claim could fall within the twelve-year period under Article 62; the recorded default date was not displaced by contrary material. The Tribunal also held that alleged defects in account statements did not defeat admission, since the insolvency form required only the relevant bank record and not certification under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act. Objections based on a joint lenders' forum arrangement were irrelevant because admission turns only on proof of financial debt and default. The petition was admitted and CIRP with moratorium followed.

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Issues: (i) whether the application under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was barred by limitation, and (ii) whether the application was liable to be rejected for alleged defects in the account statements and for objections based on the joint lenders' forum arrangement.

Issue (i): whether the application under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The Limitation Act applies to proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code from the inception of the Code. For a claim enforced through mortgage-backed security, the relevant period is twelve years under Article 62 of the Limitation Act, 1963, and even on the general three-year principle the application had been filed within time on the facts recorded. The date of default stated in the record was accepted, and no material was produced to dislodge it.

Conclusion: The application was held to be within limitation and the objection of limitation was rejected.

Issue (ii): whether the application was liable to be rejected for alleged defects in the account statements and for objections based on the joint lenders' forum arrangement.

Analysis: The statement of accounts accompanying the application was treated as sufficient because the insolvency form required only a copy of the relevant bank record and not a certified copy under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act. The Tribunal also held that, for admission of a section 7 application, it is only required to ascertain the existence of debt and default, and matters concerning the joint lenders' forum or consent of other lenders were held irrelevant to that determination. The record also showed an admitted financial debt and default.

Conclusion: The objections regarding account statements and the joint lenders' forum were rejected.

Final Conclusion: The financial creditor established the existence of a financial debt and default, the petition was maintainable, and the insolvency application was admitted with commencement of the corporate insolvency resolution process and consequential moratorium.

Ratio Decidendi: In an application under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the adjudicating authority need only ascertain the existence of a financial debt and default, and objections not going to those essentials, including internal lender arrangements or unnecessary certification objections, do not prevent admission when the claim is within limitation.

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