TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (8) TMI 1353
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.... Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) No. 29 of 2025 & I. A. No. 12 & 99 of 2025 - -<br>Insolvency & Bankruptcy<br>[ Justice Ashok Bhushan ] Chairperson And [ Barun Mitra ] Member ( Technical ) For the Appellant : Mr. Vasu Goyal, Advocate For the Respondent : Mr. Naman Shukla and Mr. A. K. Shukla, Advocates ORDER ( Hybrid Mode ) Per : Barun Mitra, Member ( Technical ) Present is a set of six I.A. Applications praying for condonation of refiling delay in respective Appeals preferred by six Applicants against order dated 13.06.2024 passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law Tribunal, Court-III, New Delhi) admitting application under Section 95 of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). 2. To list out these IAs, we n....
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....eking condonation of delay which comes to 160 days in refiling the said application (Diary No. - 9910110/07865/2024). 3. That the delay in refiling was caused because file was misplaced in the office of the advocate of the applicant. The said Memorandum of Appeal is being filed now again after removing the objections. 4. That the applicant submits that he has diligently taken all steps to cure the defects." 5. As prayed, the Applicant was further allowed 10 days time to place on record an Additional Affidavit to amplify the reasons in support of their application for condonation of re-filing delay. The relevant paragraphs in the Additional Affidavit substantiating the delay is as reproduced below: "6. I state t....
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....me was due to the reasons beyond the control of the Appellant." 6. Notice in respect of the above-mentioned IAs was issued by this Tribunal by order dated 05.03.2025, which reads as under: "Issue Notice on the delay condonation Application for re-filing. Let Reply be filed with two weeks. Two weeks for Rejoinder. List on 24.04.2025." 7. A Reply Affidavit was filed by the Respondent, and the submissions made therein have been captured in the succeeding paragraph. 8. When we peruse the reasons offered by the Applicant in the Additional Affidavit, we notice that it has been stated that the principal cause of the delay in refiling was due to delay caused by the freelance clerk, engaged by the legal counsel, due to per....
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....nlaxmi Bank Limited vs. Ritu Rastogi, Resolution Professional and Ors. in I.A. No. 7598 of 2024 in CA(AT)(Ins) No. 2131 of 2024 wherein it was held that to condone any delay in filing/re-filing, the Applicant was required to provide an explanation for each day's delay. The Respondent has further placed reliance on the judgement of this Tribunal in Govardhan Nirman Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. Vs Vaibhav Khandelwal and Ors. in CA(AT)(Ins) No. 1524 of 2024 and Employees Provident Fund Organization vs. HL Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. in I.A. No. 3202 of 2024 in CA(AT)(Ins) No. 1700 of 2024 wherein it has been held, that IBC proceedings have stringent timelines to be followed and the adjudicatory proceedings have to be completed in a prompt, expeditious and time ....
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.... this explanation to be a lame-duck excuse as the counsel cannot be permitted to cast the entire blame on the staff deployed by him while ignoring the need for continuous vigil and oversight of the counsel over his staff. 13. When we look at the Additional Affidavit, we notice that it is the contention of the Applicant that the Memo of Appeal could be refiled after curing the defects only after the file was recovered from the clerk. The first set of defects was admittedly notified by the Registry on 23.07.2024 and thereafter the defect sheets were notified again on 20.08.2024, 21.09.2024, 21.10.2024 and 09.12.2024. The defects pointed out include missing details of impugned order, unsigned index, incomplete respondent information, pagina....
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....ue diligence and proper care on the part of the counsel to pursue completion of the procedural compliances with due earnest. The inaction and absence of the clerk of the counsel being the mainstay ground for delay therefore does not meet our countenance. This game of each one passing on the buck to the other cannot be taken by us casually. 15. At this stage we must also add here that the litigant owes a duty to be vigilant of their own rights and are expected to be equally vigilant about the judicial proceedings pending in a court of law against them especially where appeals have been initiated at their instance. The issue of geographical distance between Jaipur and Delhi being a cause of discomfort for two Applicants being senior citize....