IBC Form 1 defects are not fatal where default is otherwise evidenced and limitation is saved by acknowledgment of liability.

Omission to state the date of default in Part IV of Form 1 under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was treated as a curable defect of form, not a fatal incompleteness, where the pleadings and accompanying documents otherwise disclosed the default date and non-performing asset date. The prescribed form may be supported by documents to establish financial debt, amount, and default. The financial creditor could proceed on its own consortium debt, and the application was held to be within limitation, including in light of a later acknowledgment of liability under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

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Issues: Whether omission to mention the date of default in Part IV of Form 1 filed under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was fatal to the application, and whether the application was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The application under Section 7 was accompanied by pleadings and documents showing the date of default and the non-performing asset date. The prescribed form permits supporting documents to be filed to establish the existence of financial debt, the amount, and the date of default. The omission of the date in the relevant column of Part IV was treated as a defect of form and not as a fatal incompleteness, particularly when the record otherwise disclosed the default date. The Tribunal also held that the financial creditor was entitled to proceed independently on its own consortium debt and that the application was within limitation, including in view of the later acknowledgment of liability under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

Conclusion: The omission of the date of default in Part IV did not vitiate the Section 7 application, and the application was not time-barred.

Final Conclusion: The admission of the insolvency application was upheld and the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: An omission to state the date of default in the prescribed column of Form 1 is not fatal where the date of default is otherwise evidenced in the pleadings and accompanying documents, and such defect does not defeat an otherwise maintainable Section 7 application filed within limitation.

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