Limitation under Insolvency Code applications requires sufficient cause for condonation of inordinate delay beyond the prescribed period.

Applications under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 are subject to the Limitation Act, 1963 through Section 238A, with Article 137 governing the limitation period. Delay in a Section 9 application must be assessed from the date of default, and condonation is available only on proof of sufficient cause to the Tribunal's satisfaction. Where the applicant acknowledged filing beyond the three-year period and a substantial delay remained even after excluding lockdown time, the Tribunal found no sufficient cause. The refusal to condone the delay was therefore upheld, and the dismissal of the condonation application was affirmed.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the application under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was liable to be condoned and whether the refusal to condone the delay was justified.

Analysis: The Limitation Act, 1963 applies to applications under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 by virtue of Section 238A, and Article 137 governs the limitation period for such applications. The delay in filing had to be examined from the date of default, and the appellant itself had acknowledged that the application was beyond the three-year period, with a substantial period of delay even after excluding the lockdown period. Condonation of delay is not a matter of right and can be granted only when sufficient cause is shown to the satisfaction of the Tribunal. On the facts presented, the Tribunal was not satisfied that sufficient cause existed for the long and inordinate delay.

Conclusion: The delay was not liable to be condoned, and the refusal to condone the delay was upheld against the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the order dismissing the application for condonation of delay stood affirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: Applications under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 are subject to the Limitation Act, 1963, and condonation of delay can be refused where the applicant fails to establish sufficient cause for an inordinate delay to the Tribunal's satisfaction.

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