Strict limitation under the Insolvency Code bars condonation of filing and re-filing delay beyond the statutory window.

Section 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was treated as a strict limitation regime: an appeal must be filed within 45 days, with only a further 15-day grace period on sufficient cause, after which the power to condone filing delay ends. A defective appeal had to be cured within the 28-day period under Rule 6 of Order VIII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and re-filing delay beyond that period could not be condoned to keep the appeal alive. The Court also held that re-filing delay does not stand on a different footing from filing delay in this setting, and Article 142 cannot override the express statutory limitation scheme.

---

---

Issues: Whether delay in filing and re-filing an appeal under Section 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 can be condoned beyond the statutory outer limit and beyond the period allowed for curing defects under the Supreme Court Rules, 2013.

Analysis: Section 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 prescribes a strict limitation regime, allowing an appeal within 45 days and, on sufficient cause, only a further 15-day grace period. The Court held that once the statutory window closes, the jurisdiction to condone filing delay ceases. It further held that a defective appeal under Section 62 must be cured within the 28-day period contemplated by Rule 6 of Order VIII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and that re-filing delay beyond that period cannot be condoned so as to keep the appeal alive. The Court rejected the contention that re-filing delay stands on a different footing from filing delay in this statutory setting and held that Article 142 cannot be used to override the express limitation scheme.

Conclusion: Condonation of the delay in filing and re-filing was held impermissible, and the appeal was dismissed as time-barred.

---