Late insolvency claims cannot be admitted after plan approval where public announcement gave deemed knowledge to the creditor.

A claim based on an arbitral award was held not admissible when filed 287 days after the public announcement of the corporate insolvency resolution process and only after the committee of creditors had approved the resolution plan. The public announcement was treated as deemed knowledge, and a commercial claimant was expected to stay vigilant about the insolvency process. The Court stressed that insolvency resolution is time-bound and cannot be reopened indefinitely by late claims, as this would undermine finality and prejudice the successful resolution applicant. The challenge to the appellate order therefore failed, and the belated claim was rejected.

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Issues: Whether a claim based on an arbitral award, while an appeal against the award was pending, could be admitted at a belated stage after the committee of creditors had approved the resolution plan under the insolvency process.

Analysis: The claim was raised 287 days after the public announcement of the corporate insolvency resolution process. The public announcement made under the insolvency framework constituted deemed knowledge, and a commercial claimant was expected to remain vigilant about the insolvency proceedings. The resolution professional had taken steps to obtain the corporate debtor's records, including moving for production of records, but the material was not made available. The Court also emphasised that the insolvency resolution process is time-bound and cannot be allowed to reopen indefinitely by entertaining late claims after the committee of creditors has approved the plan. Allowing such claims would unsettle the finality of the process and prejudice the successful resolution applicant.

Conclusion: The belated claim could not be admitted, and the challenge to the appellate order failed.

Ratio Decidendi: In a time-bound insolvency resolution process, a creditor who had deemed knowledge from the public announcement cannot ordinarily seek admission of a highly delayed claim after approval of the resolution plan by the committee of creditors.

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