Insolvency claim procedure and timelines: belated claims and improper challenges to liquidator rejection are not maintainable.

Claims in insolvency and liquidation must be pursued through the prescribed statutory mechanism, and a challenge to rejection of a claim by the liquidator is not maintainable before the Adjudicating Authority when the proper appellate route is not used. The appellant's application was therefore rejected. A belated claim filed after the stipulated insolvency period cannot be entertained at the liquidation stage, because the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code operates on a time-bound scheme intended to preserve certainty in the process. The delayed claim was accordingly refused, and the order declining relief to the claimant was confirmed.

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Issues: (i) Whether the application challenging rejection of the claim by the liquidator was maintainable instead of a separate appeal. (ii) Whether a claim filed belatedly after the stipulated insolvency period could be entertained at the liquidation stage.

Issue (i): Whether the application challenging rejection of the claim by the liquidator was maintainable instead of a separate appeal.

Analysis: The claim rejection by the liquidator was the subject matter of challenge, but the appellant did not prefer the proper appeal against the liquidator's decision. The application filed before the Adjudicating Authority was treated as not maintainable. The appellate forum agreed that the challenge ought to have been pursued in the manner provided under the insolvency framework.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the appellant and in favour of the respondent.

Issue (ii): Whether a claim filed belatedly after the stipulated insolvency period could be entertained at the liquidation stage.

Analysis: The claim was not filed within the time available in the corporate insolvency process and was lodged only much later. In view of the time-bound scheme of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the need for certainty in liquidation, the appellant could not seek realisation of the claim at such a delayed stage.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the appellant and in favour of the respondent.

Final Conclusion: The dismissal of the challenge to the liquidator's rejection was sustained, and the impugned order refusing relief to the claimant stood confirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: Claims in insolvency and liquidation must be pursued through the prescribed statutory mechanism and within the stipulated time, and a belated claim cannot be entertained at a late stage to unsettle the time-bound process.

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