Limitation for IBC claims can extend through acknowledgments, part-payments, and balance sheets showing subsisting liability.

A Section 7 IBC application may remain within limitation where the record contains valid acknowledgments and part-payments extending time under Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, read with Sections 18 and 19. A corporate debtor's reply to a SARFAESI notice, a later letter referring to an OTS proposal, credited part-payments, and signed balance sheets were treated as acknowledgments of subsisting liability. Technical objections that some documents were not filed earlier were not accepted where their authenticity and transmission were undisputed. The application was therefore treated as timely and the admission order was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Section 7 insolvency application was barred by limitation despite the corporate debtor's acknowledgments, part-payments, and subsequent documents evidencing subsisting liability.

Analysis: The application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was filed after the account had been declared NPA with retrospective effect, but the record contained later documents extending the limitation period. The corporate debtor's reply to the SARFAESI notice, the subsequent letter referring to an OTS proposal, the part-payments credited in 2017, and the balance sheets signed in 2016 and 2018 were treated as acknowledgments of liability. The limitation plea was assessed in light of Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and the principles governing Sections 18 and 19 of the Limitation Act, 1963, as well as the Supreme Court's approach that limitation provisions apply to IBC proceedings and that acknowledgment can extend time. Technical objections that some documents were not filed before the Adjudicating Authority were not accepted because authenticity and transmission were not disputed.

Conclusion: The application was held to be within limitation and the admission order was upheld.

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