Curable defect in insolvency form and limitation under IBC: default date omission did not bar admission of the petition.

Omission of the date of default in the prescribed insolvency form was treated as a curable defect where the pleadings and annexures otherwise disclosed the default date and NPA classification, so the Section 7 application was not rendered inadmissible. Limitation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is to be computed by applying the Limitation Act, 1963 on the facts and documents evidencing default; on that basis, the application was held within time. The insolvency petition was admitted, moratorium was declared, and an Interim Resolution Professional was appointed for commencement of the corporate insolvency resolution process.

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Issues: (i) Whether omission of the date of default in the relevant column of the insolvency application rendered it defective and inadmissible. (ii) Whether the application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was barred by limitation.

Issue (i): Whether omission of the date of default in the relevant column of the insolvency application rendered it defective and inadmissible.

Analysis: The application did not expressly fill the date of default in the prescribed column, but the pleadings and accompanying documents disclosed the date of default and the account classification as NPA. The omission was treated as a curable defect in the form, not as a ground to reject the application, since the substantive debt and default were otherwise established on record.

Conclusion: The defect did not make the application inadmissible, and the objection was rejected.

Issue (ii): Whether the application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The objection was founded on competing dates of default and the plea that limitation began earlier. The ruling applied the principle that the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 as far as may be, and that the period must be computed on the facts and documents showing the default. In the circumstances recorded, the application was held to be within limitation.

Conclusion: The application was not barred by limitation.

Final Conclusion: The insolvency petition was admitted, moratorium was declared, and an Interim Resolution Professional was appointed for commencement of the corporate insolvency resolution process.

Ratio Decidendi: An omission in the prescribed form regarding the date of default is not fatal where the date of default is otherwise ascertainable from the pleadings and annexures, and limitation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 must be computed in accordance with the Limitation Act, 1963 as applied to insolvency proceedings.

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