COVID-19 lockdown period excluded from liquidation timeline where liquidation steps could not be completed during disruption.

A liquidation timeline under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 was held fit for exclusion where the COVID-19 lockdown impeded completion of liquidation steps, including unsuccessful e-auctions and other process requirements. Regulation 47A was applied to permit exclusion of the lockdown period for tasks that could not be completed because of the disruption. The Adjudicating Authority accepted the reasons for delay as sufficient and excluded 120 days from computation of the liquidation period.

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Issues: Whether 120 days, from 25.03.2020 to 22.07.2020, deserved exclusion from the liquidation period on account of the COVID-19 lockdown and the resulting impediments in conducting the liquidation process.

Analysis: The application was founded on the inability to complete liquidation steps during the lockdown period, the absence of response to repeated e-auctions, and the express provision in Regulation 47A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 enabling exclusion of the lockdown period for tasks that could not be completed due to such lockdown. The reasons for delay were accepted as sufficient, and the Adjudicating Authority found it appropriate to exclude the claimed period from computation of the liquidation timeline.

Conclusion: The request for exclusion of 120 days from the liquidation process period was allowed.

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