Limitation for section 9 insolvency petitions bars stale claims where no valid acknowledgment or part-payment extends time.

A section 9 insolvency application was held barred by limitation because the alleged defaults arose between 29.03.2014 and 13.08.2014, while the petition was filed on 15.05.2018. Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applied, and the three-year limitation period had expired before filing. No acknowledgment of liability or part-payment within time was proved to extend limitation under sections 18 or 19. Defects in proving invoice service and demand notice service further weakened the claim, but limitation was the ative ground. The petition was therefore liable to be dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the section 9 insolvency petition was barred by limitation and therefore liable to be dismissed.

Analysis: The alleged defaults arising from the invoices fell between 29.03.2014 and 13.08.2014, and the petition was filed only on 15.05.2018. No acknowledgment of liability or part-payment within the limitation period was shown to extend limitation under sections 18 or 19 of the Limitation Act, 1963. Applying article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, the three-year period expired before the petition was instituted. The absence of proof of invoice service and demand notice service also reinforced the evidentiary deficiencies, but the decisive ground was limitation.

Conclusion: The petition was time-barred and was liable to be dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: An application under section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is governed by article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, and where the default occurred more than three years before filing and no valid acknowledgment or payment extends limitation, the application is barred.

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