Additional objections and documents may be accepted with leave when needed for fair adjudication and no prejudice is shown.

Rule 55 of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016 permits subsequent pleadings after a reply only with the Tribunal's leave, and Rule 11 preserves inherent power to receive such material on appropriate terms. The text states that where additional objections and supporting documents are sought for fair adjudication, and no prejudice is shown, refusal based on the erroneous view that there is no power to entertain them is unsustainable. It also notes a natural justice concern and says such an order may be interfered with under Article 226, with the additional material considered by the Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in refusing leave to file additional objections and documents under the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016, and whether the impugned order warranted interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: Rule 55 of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016 permits subsequent pleadings after reply only with the leave of the Tribunal on such terms as it deems fit, and Rule 11 preserves the Tribunal's inherent power. The petitioner had filed the reply within the short time granted and sought to place additional objections and documents with reasons. The order rejecting that request proceeded on the footing that there was no provision to entertain such material, yet it simultaneously permitted the documents to be relied on to a limited extent. In these circumstances, the refusal to entertain the additional objections could not be sustained, especially when the materials were sought to be introduced for fair adjudication and no prejudice was shown to justify exclusion. The objection also raised a natural justice concern.

Conclusion: The impugned order refusing leave for additional objections and documents was not sustainable and was set aside. The additional objections and documents were directed to be considered by the Tribunal while dealing with the insolvency petition.

Ratio Decidendi: Under Rule 55 of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016, read with the Tribunal's inherent power, subsequent pleadings and supporting documents may be entertained on terms of leave where their exclusion would impede fair adjudication, and an order rejecting such material on an erroneous premise is liable to be interfered with under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

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