Limitation under insolvency law bars a section 9 petition when no acknowledgment extends time after default.

An application under section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was found to be barred by limitation because the admitted date of default was 8 July 2013 and no subsequent acknowledgment or other legally recognised extension of time was shown. The Tribunal applied article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 to insolvency applications and treated the three-year period as having expired before the petition was filed. It also noted that commencement of the Code or later proceedings does not revive a time-barred claim. The application was therefore dismissed as time-barred.

---

---

Issues: Whether the application under section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The date of default was admitted to be 8 July 2013 and no subsequent acknowledgment of debt or other circumstance extending limitation was shown. The Tribunal applied the settled principle that, for applications under the Code, article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 governs limitation, and that the commencement of the Code or later proceedings does not revive a time-barred claim. On the admitted facts, three years from the date of default had expired before the petition was filed.

Conclusion: The application was held to be time-barred and was dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The petition under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code could not be proceeded with because the debt enforcement claim was barred by limitation.

Ratio Decidendi: For applications under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, limitation runs from the date of default and is governed by article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 unless a legally recognized extension such as acknowledgment is shown.

---