Written acknowledgment of liability extends limitation and can keep a Section 7 insolvency application within time.

A Section 7 insolvency application may remain within limitation where the corporate debtor has issued written acknowledgments of liability before expiry of the original period. The text states that repeated settlement requests, reschedulement letters, and balance confirmations signed by the debtor were treated as valid acknowledgments under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963, giving rise to a fresh period of limitation from each acknowledgment. On that basis, the limitation objection failed and the insolvency admission was sustained, with the CIRP and moratorium left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was barred by limitation, and whether the written acknowledgments and reschedulement letters extended the period of limitation under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

Analysis: The Appellant contended that the default and NPA dated back beyond three years, so the Section 7 application was time-barred under Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963. The Respondent relied on repeated written requests for settlement, reschedulement, and balance confirmations made before expiry of the original limitation period. The Tribunal treated those documents as valid acknowledgments in writing signed by the Corporate Debtor. Applying Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963, it held that a fresh period of limitation runs from the date of each acknowledgment and that the repeated acknowledgments kept the claim alive within limitation.

Conclusion: The limitation objection failed. The Section 7 application was held to be within time and the admission of the insolvency petition was sustained.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was found to be without merit, and the insolvency admission order, including initiation of CIRP and moratorium, was affirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: A written acknowledgment of liability signed before expiry of the prescribed period under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 gives rise to a fresh period of limitation, and such acknowledgments can render a Section 7 insolvency application within time.

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