Limitation for insolvency appeals turns on pronouncement date and a duly applied certified copy; free registry copies do not extend time.

Limitation for an insolvency appeal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code runs from the date of pronouncement of the order, and exclusion of time under Section 12(2) of the Limitation Act is available only where a certified copy is duly applied for within the prescribed period. A free certified copy sent by the Registry under the tribunal rules does not replace a certified copy sought in the manner required by law. On that basis, the appellant could not claim exclusion of time, and the statutory outer limit could not be extended by medical grounds or a plea of bona fide delay.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the insolvency appeal could be condoned on the basis of the free certified copy of the order and the date on which that free copy was received.

Analysis: The limitation under Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 runs from the date of pronouncement of the order. The requirement under Rule 22(2) of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Rules, 2016 to accompany the appeal with a certified copy was treated as mandatory, and the free copy sent by the Registry under Rule 50 of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016 was held not to substitute for a certified copy applied for in the manner required by law. Since no application for a certified copy was made within limitation, the benefit of exclusion under Section 12(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 was unavailable. The Tribunal also held that the medical condition and the plea of bona fide delay could not override the statutory outer limit.

Conclusion: The delay was not condonable and the application for condonation failed.

Ratio Decidendi: In an appeal governed by Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, limitation is computed from the date of pronouncement and the benefit of exclusion under Section 12(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 is available only when a certified copy is duly applied for within the prescribed period; a free copy from the Registry does not dispense with that requirement.

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